The Second Feudal Fairytale
by UsagiSakura-sama
Summary: Kagome's story was just the first. Usagi, adopted, has a dark and secret past that Kagome is unable to figure out. In desperation, Kagome follows Usagi to the well which hasn't worked in 3 years. There, Kagome finds out Usagi somehow has been talking to Rin. Kagome knocks them both into the well, and they are thrown back in time too far. Thus starts The Second Feudal Fairytale.
1. Chapter 1

If he could have had one wish, it was that the constant pain end. No, he didn't need some mystic jewel that was more trouble than it was worth to end the pain. But he had had the constant pain since the summer of his 118th year. The same summer that he went missing for three years only to come back to his father's fortress, mutter something unintelligible, but he doubted that was true since he never spoke without anything but pure brilliant thought, and then collapsed for a whole week, which also could not have been true for he was not weak. He remembered leaving for one of his first patrols alone of his father's land, but shortly after there was a blank. He did not think that three years had passed, as when he woke up back in the fortress, the moon was only a few phases after he last remembered in the same season.

One of the few times that the pain eased was being near his half-brother's pack. But that was only an easing. And now it no longer worked. It was, in the beginning, an even worse pain. The pain might have been the reason that he had lost control so easily in his father's grave. He did not lose control easily, and it would rarely show, but he had reached new levels of pain at that moment when he noticed the miko. Then it eased the more he followed them. It was gradual, but finally, it became less painful to be around them until it was less pain being near them than being apart.

And then it wasn't. That last battle, after the miko had disappeared, everything hurt worse again. He left Rin in the village not just for Rin's benefit, but for a selfish reason of wanting to check if the miko came back. It was never made clear, no matter how forceful he was, where she had gone. She was just gone. So, he came to check on Rin regularly and check for the miko. But she never came back.

He didn't assume that this time would be any different. Three years had passed, and Rin had long since made it clear she would rather follow him on patrol no matter if she had to run the whole time to keep up. She even had the demon slayers teach her how to fight so that she would not be a burden, just as more incentive to be allowed to follow him. If the miko wasn't there, then this time he might allow her to follow him out of the village. Rin at least always smiled, and he could pretend her smile was all he needed.

Sesshomaru pushed back the branch and stepped into the clearing looking down on the thriving village. His eyes quickly found Rin teaching some children, human, hanyo, and demon, some new trick. Passed Rin was the little fox kit watching on and passed the kit Inuyasha was sitting in a tree, watching everything and darting his eyes at Sesshomaru. The miko was not there. He took a step down the hill towards Rin.

* * *

"Big sister! I can't go that fast!" shouted a young girl with long red and blond hair tied into a very messy ponytail that did nothing to calm the massive beach waves in her hair, trying to run to catch up to the girl with dark, wavy ebony hair that had too much volume for its own good. The other girl laughed and picked up her pace. Groaning, the younger girl tried to speed up and fell face-first into the concrete, skinning her palms, knees, and nose. She sat there a moment, not making a sound.

The other girl yelled and turned around, running back to the younger girl. She reached a hand out, but the young girl slowly sat up and started picking the larger pieces of debris out of the wounds. When she was finished, she let the other girl pull her to her feet.

"Are you okay?" the older girl asked in concern.

The younger girl nodded. "Yes, I'm fine Kagome," she said with a smile.

Kagome hugged the younger girl with a sigh. "I'm sorry Usagi, I should have known better."

"I'm fine!" Usagi said and hugged Kagome back. "Let's just get home."


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Note: I don't own anyone but my own characters. There are a lot of trigger warnings in this story, like rape, graphic fight scenes, the hurt that comes with having horrible things in your past, bones break, and lots of tears. I'll warn you before I go into it. I am looking for a beta. Please read my profile if you have any questions.

* * *

Ever since my Mama had decided to adopt the orphaned girl, I had kept a very watchful eye on my new younger sibling. She was small, very much so. Her age was a giant question. She looked too small to be a high school student, but she acted like an adult. She only just hit five feet tall, and she has a baby face with giant green eyes that are half-lidded. It is hilarious when she gets surprised as her eyes open and dominate her face with her shocked expression. It isn't had to shock her either and she can be shocked by the same thing multiple times. I'm constantly stopping Souta from trying to shock the poor girl so he can laugh when her eyes go wide.

Despite all that, she has her quirks, just like I do. After some "help" from my friends, Usagi had an idea that something wasn't right. She cornered me after two months of living with us and asked. That was a long discussion. After, she asked five questions and then accepted that it all was true. The well hasn't worked since I came home three years ago, despite me trying, but Usagi said she didn't need it to work for proof.

She also doesn't mention pain. Not consciously. The only way to tell is the tiniest twitch in her bottom eyelid, and there are only two or three of them before she can control her expression again. The twitches are so tiny you have to have really good eyes or be close to notice them. She will keep a stoic face unless someone needs cheer, and it is those stoic times I question if she somehow is related to Lord Sesshomaru. In pain, her face only will show cheer when asked about it, otherwise it is stoic for an hour before she goes back to her normal self. I always wonder if she is in more pain than she lets on, as randomly she will do the twitch when she wakes up. She would never say though.

An even weirder quirk is when she sneaks out at night. She has been doing it for almost two months now. She goes to the well house and opens the door. Usagi sits right on the edge of the well and talks to it, like a diary. I don't stay long when she starts talking, but I follow her to the well on nights she is out a bit later than normal and keep an eye on her until she comes back inside. Otherwise, I watch from my window for when she comes back inside.

I take a peek at her over my shoulder, and she has her lip between her teeth, worrying it again. She has been doing it for the past two days. I'm still trying to figure out if my carelessness in running too fast was what made her fall, if it was her klutziness, or whatever has been on her mind for the past two days is the cause of the fall. It isn't unusual for her to fall, just the force of the fall this time is the indication that something is off. She notices me watching her and smiles, stopping biting her lip. She takes three quicker steps and slips her hand into mine. It is the only way you can tell she is younger than her age says she is besides her height. She needs contact with people she cares about, and while it might have to do with the trauma she went through, it shows she has a younger side. I give her hand a little squeeze, and she squeezes back.

I try to not notice her tiny limp, and she won't acknowledge it even if I do. She goes slightly slower up the stairs of the shrine, but it is only noticeable if you know the young girl. At the top of the shrine steps, she pauses, as usual, and looks around. I don't know what she is looking for, and whatever she looks for she is satisfied with since she walks forward.

Mama is in the kitchen, and she already has a snack waiting for us. Usagi hugs Mama hello and then sits down. Mama combs her fingers through Usagi's hair while Usagi takes a big bite out of the fake sushi roll that is made of ham, cream cheese, and veggies. Mama tries to ignore the marks on my younger sibling but glances at me to know she will ask me about them later.

Somehow, Mama is a complete pushover for Usagi. Mama always spoils her, especially when it is clear she is hurt. Pulling out a jug of the "pudding milk" as we call it, Mama pours a big glass of the chocolate milk and hands it to my sister. It is so thick, it is like instant pudding before it sets all the way, hence pudding milk. She lights up and happily hugs Mama, then takes a big drink from the glass. Mama busies herself checking the calendar on the fridge and asking if either of us have anything to add to it.

Usagi pulls open her bag carefully, unlike what I normally do. She is delicate with anything that is hers as if to make it last as long as possible, and even more delicate with things not hers. She pulls out two fliers and hands them to Mama. My college has no events going on, but I do have a test next week. After looking over the fliers and putting the dates on the calendar, Mama asks me, and I tell her about the test which she puts on as well.

I take a piece of the rolled-up food when Usagi hands it to me, not hungry but not willing to offend the girl by denying it and take a bite for her. Satisfied, she goes back to eating. When I have eaten two pieces, Mama tries her best to grab the plates before Usagi tried to take them to wash them, but the young girl is quick and already at the sink. She washes the dishes for Mama, then pulls out the cleaner from under the sink. Mama plucks it from the girl and hints that she would be disappointed if Usagi didn't finish her homework before her chores. The girl looks like she is about to panic but rushes off to do her homework.

Mama corners me then. "What happened this time Kagome?"

I sigh. "It is my fault. I was running too fast, and she fell."

Mama clucks her tongue at me, but it is all she says on the matter. Instead, she moves on to a new topic. "Do you know why the alarm keeps being disabled in the middle of the night? The report says it shuts off for about a half hour to forty-five minutes every night around midnight."

I nod and sit with Mama as she motions me to sit at the table. "Usagi keeps going to the well house. She talks to it like a diary. I don't want to pry since she seems to want it to be a secret."

"Is she doing better? It has been almost a year since we adopted her, and almost a year and a half since we met her, but," Mama trails off, waiting for me to finish for her.

"I don't know Mama. It is better than the orphanage. I'm not sure if she fully has gotten out of that place in her mind. You saw how quick she was to do the dishes and chores." I wince as I say this, wishing that what I'm saying isn't true. "Since she has started going to the well, she seems to have done better. She had such a light on her face when I told her about Inuyasha and everyone. I just wish she could have met them."

Mama pats my hand with a smile. "We'll keep trying." I nod and stand up to take care of my homework, but Mama stops me. "Maybe tonight you should listen to what she says to the well. We may learn something to help her dear." I nod again and head up to my bedroom.

* * *

Usagi wiggled out of bed at her usual time to talk to the well. I turned my light off and waited for her to walk outside. When she was outside, I made my way down the stairs and out to listen to her. I stand outside the well house, and she was tapping something. Then she started to sing. I'm not sure what it was, but it was in English. English had never been a strong-point of mine, but it sounded horribly sad. I only knew a few of the words that she said from the speed of the song, and not enough to know what the song was about. After only a short while, all hell broke loose with one shouted command.

* * *

Rin was insistent that I stay the night to meet the ghost. My dim-wit half-brother had problems dealing with spirits. If anything, it might be something I can use against him. Rin explained that the voice of the ghost comes late, in the middle of the night, as she chatted away. Sometimes the ghost could hear things, other times she could not hear. The fox kit thought the voice was pretty, but that it might be dangerous. On rare occasions, the voice would sing, and Rin sometimes didn't know what she was singing, but it was always very wonderful.

Rin went every night. I was not pleased with Rin leaving the safety of the village to go to the old well, but I was slightly curious. Normally, spirits did not stay around long. But according to Rin, the voice had been there for over two moon cycles. It was strange, and I was not convinced it was a spirit. If it were a threat, it would be eliminated.

That night, Rin grabbed my hand and swung it on the way to the well. She went slightly early, and when she got there she sat down by the well to wait. I stood while she sat and watched, glad she was not talking. After about fifteen minutes, there was a rattling sound, followed by footsteps. A tapping started and I discreetly took a sniff of the air from the well, where all the sounds were coming from. It was, alarming. It was something sweet, but mild at the same time so the sweetness did not burn my nose. There was also a flowering scent that smelled like fresh cherry blossoms and some other flower, like rosa rugosa, the rose found on the coasts. It was oddly very pleasing, but at the same time, it made the pain worse and less in the strangest way. I took a step towards it.

Then a voice started softly, in a strange language I had not heard in a long time. It was foreign, from far away on the mainland. The voice was sweeter than any voice I had ever heard, any instrument that had graced the halls of the Western Fortress paled in comparison. But something was wrong with it. It was beautiful, but horrible from the sadness in it. It shouldn't sound like that. I listened, but then a worse scent came from the well. It was the smell of tears, and it was destroying the pleasing scent. The salt burned my nose. There was also an underlying scent of blood, slightly old and dried.

"Stop." It was a firm command, and the singing instantly stopped. Several heartbeats later, there was a sniffle.

"Hello there," said the voice in the well. I glanced over the well, but it was empty. I had the strange feeling that this wasn't the first time I glanced over this well, though I could not place when I last did such. "You're a new visitor. Did Rin bring a new friend?" I glanced over as Rin came up and put her hands on the well.

"Hello again!" Rin said happily. I put a hand on her shoulder to silence her.

"Show yourself." Another firm command, hopefully, answered just as quickly as the last this time.

The voice laughed. "I'm not exactly hiding. I can't see you; you can't see me. Sometimes I can't hear you. The well is mysterious. But I take it that it always has been, so I don't know what to make of it." It mocked me like I was ignorant, and I growled lightly at it. It didn't seem to hear or mind if it did hear. "If you could make the well work right again though, my big sister would probably be really happy."

"It is broken." It wasn't a question, but the girl answered anyways.

"It hasn't worked in three years. I don't think I want to tell her I can hear you until I can fix it. And I will fix it somehow."

"Usagi!" a third voice screamed, and the loudness hurt my ears. "The well!" The three words were enough to alert me that the miko was there, the one from my brother's pack.

"Please Kagome, don't jump in yet! It isn't working right!"

"Inuyasha!" the miko screamed. If that didn't wake him up, even as far as it was, nothing would. My ears were ringing. "Inuyasha!" she screamed again. There was an even worse high-pitched scream, and then a grunt. "Usagi! Don't let go!"

There was a soft chuckle. "It's okay Kagome; I won't die from a fall. I may break a bone or two from this height, but I'll be okay. Let go now," the first voice said softly, reassuringly.

Only it wasn't reassuring. It did not sit well with me. "Do not let go miko."

"Kagome?" I did not need an idiot in the clearing, but there my half-brother was.

"Inuyasha! Hurry, jump in! I can't hold on to my sister!"

"What sister?" It seemed my half-brother reached new levels of stupidity if he forgot that the miko had a sister. I did not know the fact, but I did not know much about the miko.

"Inuyasha!" The miko was clearly distressed. I was about to throw him into the well when he jumped in. There was a snap as he landed on a twig, and then several stomps.

"I can't get through!" Inuyasha said then jumped out. He stood looking over the rim. Clearly, he was not going to try again. It was part impulse when the miko made another sound of distress, and the scraping of clothing against wood came to push him into the well to try again. Sadly, and I couldn't tell if it was sad because he landed on his feet fine or if he didn't make it where his miko and the other girl were at, he did not make it through. He cursed and jumped back out. "Oi! Just jump in Kagome!"

There was a soft sigh. "Kagome, just let go. I'll be fine." Falling the distance of the well would not leave a human "fine," and I was about to point it out when the miko yelped.

There was a grunt from the miko and more scraping clothing. "Don't force me to let you go! Stop pushing at my hand!"

"Kagome, it's okay. Just let go." The other girl was calm, frighteningly so. It did not sit well at all.

"Do not let go, miko," I ordered again.

The miko yelped again. "Stop that! I'm going to use my other hand and pull you up! Just hang on!"

"No! If you try to use both hands, we both will fall! Just let go and ignore the bossy person over there!"

There was the sound of scraping clothing again, then the miko screamed, and the other girl screamed the miko's name. Then all was quiet. The quiet hurt and the pain became nearly unbearable.

* * *

Okay! Dun-dun-dunnnn~ This is normally a two-chapter post, but thought I'd go and give you a longer one. Reviews are welcome, flames are frowned at. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Hello my lovely readers! I am back today with another update, rather late for me to be awake. I am still looking for a beta reader, but I have hopefully improved some of the grammar with the help of a friend in the real world. I also got from said friend a piece of art, though I'm not sure if it is her art or not. She does draw, so it just might. Possible first fan art from a real world friend? Who knows!

I've had a lot of flat-out "no"s from potential beta readers after a sample I send from later in the work. Again, I am being completely real and honest with the reality some people go through after certain events, and they are trigger warnings. No, I'm not going into the event, I'm going into the pieces that are left after the event. Harsh, heartbreaking, but honest. Please let me know if you would like to beta read by sending me a PM.

I plan to be releasing several chapters over the next few days. Yes, I have longer chapters, and yes, there are rather short ones. I hopefully will always release around the same amount, but I'm giving a bunch at the start.

I have a playlist, and as soon as I can figure out how to get it somewhere you all can see, I will let you know! Otherwise, the songs aren't owned by me either. So sad. Wish I owned the songs or the characters we all know and love. The only one I'm claiming so far is Usagi.

Anyways, here is chapter 3! We are finally back in... Where? Read on!

* * *

My eyes flew open, and I looked around. I did a mental check of myself and found that my nose, hand, and knees hurt, but that was from falling on concrete. Nothing else hurt. I sat up to look for my big sister. She was slightly off to the side of me. Carefully, I knelt over her trying to ignore the sting in my knees from my earlier fall. I lightly touched her cheek, and her eyes flew open, and she wiggled.

"Don't move," I said, and she stilled. "Does anything hurt?" Thankfully, she shook her head no and then sat up. She rubbed her eyes and looked around, then up. She gasped, and I looked up too. There were the sky and a million stars in every inch of it. It was beautiful. But there was no way up to it. I scanned each wall for the vines that were supposed to be there, but there were none.

Kagome seemed to notice it after a moment. She put her hands on the walls and spun in circles in the small space. She closed her eyes a moment and popped them open. "Two demons are out there, a little way off. It has to be Inuyasha and Sesshomaru." I nodded an understanding, even though I didn't fully understand. "Inuyasha! Sesshomaru!" she screamed. There was a loud crash a ways off, but no response. "Oh no, are they fighting again?"

Seeing as we might be stuck there for a while, I felt the walls. It was stone, and while I was never the best at the rock-climbing wall, I had never fallen. I grabbed a handful of rock in the semi-dark and kicked my foot against the bottom and started climbing.

"Usagi! No! They will get us out in a minute." I ignored her. From what she told me of the legendary fights, very few things mattered until the fight was over. I doubted the two of us in the well counted. I scrapped my hands and bare feet a few times on the way up, but I pushed over the ledge and took a breath of air. It was wonderful, but I had to get Kagome out of the well. I looked around for anything I could use.

To the left, there were trees, and they were rustling, but I didn't see any dangling vines. I didn't see a branch sturdy enough to help Kagome out of the well either. Around the clearing by the well, there wasn't much. It was dark, and it was oddly easy to see in the bright starlight and moonglow. I looked up and smiled at the pretty moon for a moment, determined to just find one of the inu brothers to get them to pull Kagome out, when the sound of something crashing through the trees startled me.

The thing, as it only could have been a thing, missed me by a hair's breadth and only because I turned the other way from it to see it. I jumped away from it as it stood up and turned towards me.

"Pretty thing! I will eat you too!" It flew at me again, and I dodged and kicked its rear end as it went by. It hissed in anger.

"Okay thingy, you can't eat me," I told it plainly.

It seemed confused. "Why not?"

I shrugged. "I'm not a pretty thing."

It laughed and launched at me again. I dodged and kicked its leg this time as it went by. "Oh, but you are a strong thing, and strong things are pretty! I must eat you! You will make me stronger!"

Putting my hands on my hips, I glared at it. "What kind of stupid thinking is that?" It paused. "Think about it, thingy. If you ate a plant or meat, meat clearly would make you stronger. I'm just meat. Can get loads more of it all around. What makes you stronger is learning things and training to be stronger."

It spun in a circle as if trying to decide to pounce again. "You shall teach me to be stronger then! I want you!" It launched at me again, and this time I wasn't so prepared. An arm snaked around my waist and yanked me away, then set me on my feet in a tree.

I moved my feet for better stability and looked up at the white-clad person. His hair was dangerously seductive, so long and silver and perfectly free of knots. He removed his arm when he was sure I could stand on my own, never taking his eyes off the thing that liked me. The magenta striped on his cheek alerted me it was Sesshomaru and not Inuyasha. He was far too tall, and his arm had lifted me like I was nothing into the tree, and the muscles in said arm hardly moved from my weight like I was a nothing. He was so powerful and wonderful looking; I could do nothing but fall instantly for him. It was useless, he hated humans, but anyone with eyes would fall for his beauty. I needed to find out if he was as wonderful as he looked.

"Thanks, Sesshomaru," I said with a tiny smile, but he did not look at me. I turned my eyes back to the thing that was staring up at us.

"I want that human!" It shouted in what sounded like a temper tantrum. It then slammed into the tree. "Want it!" It slammed into the tree again, repeating that it wanted me over and over. I snapped a branch off from beside me and threw it at the thing.

"I don't want you! Go find a book!"

It paused briefly, then started slamming the tree again. The tree made a cracking sound, and I grabbed on to Sesshomaru's arm. He did look at me then, in slight disgust, I think, then picked me up and moved to a different tree. The thing followed, but I tossed another branch at it. "Destroying the forest to toss it at him will not stop any demon." I glanced at Sesshomaru with a blank look. I was not stupid.

Spying the sword on his belt, and seeing only one that wasn't too fancy, I decided to go for it. I pulled it free and jumped down towards the thing, landing on its back and slamming the sword into it. It was not pleasant, and it screamed and tossed me off. I kept a firm grip on the sword, so it came with me instead of being useless by being trapped in the thing. I stared at the thing as it rounded on me. "Okay thingy, if you can solve my riddle, I'll come with you." It paused, growled, and sat down. I did not expect it to do that, so I tried to recall the riddle that I was writing. I would have to finish it right then and there.

"This thing can't be handled, and no one is ready for it. It cries in a cradle all night. It swings and jives and drives you crazy. It gives you a fever and leaves you in a cold sweat. You gotta be cool, relax, and get on track to even attempt to get ready for it. What is it?" The thing stared at me, then started spinning in circles, which I now determined was how it thought. "Oh, and one more thing, if Sesshomaru can figure it out first, I get to go with him." The thing hissed and stared at me, then spun faster.

"That is impossible to figure out!" it howled after a minute as it lunged at me. I jumped out of the way, but I jumped too fast and knew I was going to land very awkwardly.

"Sesshomaru!" I shouted and tossed the sword at him. I landed funny just as I watched him catch the sword and charge the thing as it turned to look for me. I carefully scrambled up, knowing that I just made my knee crack weird and my trick ankle twisted. I watched as Sesshomaru spoke to the thing, and the thing squealed something out. Then Sesshomaru ran the thing in two and tossed its body away. He cleaned his blade then turned to me as he put it away.

He stared for several moments, and I knew he was trying to ask something, but not what. After several moments, he finally decided to use words. "Well?"

I gave him a thumbs-up. "That was great! I fell, weird, but falling is usual, but oh well! That thing was nasty. You clearly are as strong as Kagome said."

He looked at me, and it screamed that he thought I was a complete idiot. "The answer human."

I stared a moment this time before I got it. "Oh, the riddle? My secret!" He growled and started walking away. On the back of his arm was a splotch of red. I yelped and raced forward, pushing all thoughts of my injury away for a later time. I caught his arm and patted below it and above.

He growled again. "Release this Sesshomaru." I ignored him and kept patting, then pushed the sleeve up. There was a cut on his forearm, and I yelped again, then started looking around for water to clean it. He yanked his arm free. "It will heal momentarily." I sighed in relief, having forgotten that Kagome said demons have very quick healing.

Then Kagome came back to my mind. "Kagome!" I grabbed his arm and took three running steps forward, only to reach the length of his arm and fall backward, like trying to pull an immovable object. My back collided with his chest, and the wind was knocked clean out of me. He steadied me until I could breathe again. "Come on, Sesshomaru; we have to get my sister out of the well."

He did not release me, but I could see his nose working by a tiny flare in his nostrils. "You are injured." He looked me up and down, then bent and lifted my leg. Sadly, he picked up the wrong leg, leaving me to stand on my injured trick ankle, and I fell over. He caught me before I hit the ground. "You are useless."

I huffed. So much for the wonderful inside part. "Thanks for being so nice there." He raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm fine. Just little stuff." I pushed away from him and stood back up. He stood with me. "My sister needs help out of the well. We need to get her out before we worry about me." He followed me this time to the well. I peeked over, and Kagome looked up at us. "Hey, big sister! I found Sesshomaru to help." He peeked over the well too, and Kagome gasped. He jumped in, picked her up, and jumped out. "See? He isn't so bad! He saved me back there from some nasty thing, and-," I paused and looked at her. She looked freaked out. "Kagome, what's wrong?"

"How broken is the well?" she asked like she had seen a ghost.

I shrugged. "Seemed to work to me."

"The well is dry. It clearly is not working." Sesshomaru said, looking at me like I was an even bigger idiot than he thought.

I started between Sesshomaru and Kagome. Something was wrong for sure. Kagome said Sesshomaru towered over her. They were nearly the same height. "Oh, sugar snaps," I gasped out. "It really is broken." Sesshomaru looked at the both of us like we were complete idiots.

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There you have it! As always, I'd love a review. Feel free to be honest, just try to not bring out a flamethrower please. I hope you enjoyed it! I'll be back with another update tomorrow, fingers crossed, after my friend gets to finish chapter four. She sadly has gone to bed for the night, so it will have to wait for the morning! Again, calling out for a beta reader since my friend can't do it forever. I'll see if I can find the beta-reader signal to put in the sky soon if need be. Until tomorrow then my lovely readers~


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Hello my wonderful readers! Again, up rather late as I have a... sort-of beta? GreyWolfie21 has graciously stepped in to help, but sadly hasn't beta'ed an Inuyasha fic before. We shall see how that goes. If anyone wants to leave a review if I go wrong somewhere, that would be much appreciated. This is just as much for you as for me at this point, so I want to make you happy! If something doesn't and it doesn't have a reason later on, I'll be happy to relook and rework if you let me know. But I can't if you don't let me know, so hit that review button or send me a PM! I'll likely PM you back within a few hours to go into more details or explain vaguely why it is that way without spoilers.

We are back as promised for chapter 4 right on time date-wise, sadly, I am up rather late again. I should see if I can find an Inuyasha beta that doesn't work at my middle of the night. And, we are back to sexy Sesshomaru's POV! Yay!

Now, just to be fair, I kind of fangirl a bit with Usagi in regards to Sesshomaru. Thought I'd warn you. But, most of you I'm sure rather understand that. No trigger warnings besides the fact we do go a little bloody here. I've had no one really have issues with it, but yes, we are getting a little blood-spillage here. It is only a few paragraphs, but the show in my opinion went worse in spots than this. Just giving heads up!

It is a rather long post to make up for the lateness in the day. Enjoy!

* * *

Both girls were clearly not in control of their mental functions. The very short girl with the fire hair was mostly calm, but her eye betrayed her excitement. The other girl was fearful, and her fear stung my nose. But the overwhelming smell was the blood from the younger girl. It smelled, simply wrong. The smell would attract lesser demons, but she seemed to care less, her eyes dancing.

I had no idea what they were talking about, but the fact I was short and young seemed to come up often. I do not know which myth they were talking about, but it was starting to get insulting. I flicked my acid whip out and decapitated the first demon to show up, but neither girl seemed to notice. The older of the two kept wanting to jump back into the well, but this showed how little control of their mental functions either human had.

The younger girl turned and came up to me, looking up at me from her short height. "How old are you?"

That was an odd question. "This Sesshomaru is one hundred eighteen years old." The young girl smiled widely, the first portrayal of excitement she allowed to show. It was a lovely smile, but she still was a weak human.

"I'm Higurashi Usagi. Nice to meet you!" She bowed but only stayed down for a moment, popping back up to smile at me. "I've heard so much about you. Most of it good." I raised an eyebrow at that. Most of the stories that circulated portrayed me even worse than I was, thanks to my father. "That is my big sister, Kagome."

"Usagi!" the older sister yelled at the little one.

The little sister waved her off. She then looked me up and down and practically danced a circle around me. She stopped when she came back to my front and smiled even wider. "Kagome, you didn't do him justice." The older sister slapped a hand to her face with a sigh. The girl reached up and didn't touch me but ran her finger across my markings in the air. She could only just reach the ones on my cheeks, but not the crescent moon on my forehead. It seemed to upset her, but she moved on with a bigger smile. "Yes, no justice at all."

"I'm not great with descriptions! You know what my friends jumped to with how I explained it all!" the older sister looked slightly hurt. "Like you could do it better little sister," she said with a huff.

The younger sister shrugged then looked up at me. "The way you know it is Sesshomaru, the one and only Killing Perfection, is when you see him, your heart stops. It isn't just the way the moon and stars shine just to light up his long and obviously silky liquid silver hair, but the way he handles himself on the battlefield so easily as if he were born into it. His eyes are so bright gold that you think the sun has blinded you, but still feel chilled like the coldest ice when he turns those eyes on you in displeasure. The crescent moon on his forehead, proudly displayed as it should be between his bangs, draws your eyes to his face where you will be paralyzed with knowing you looked at the most honorable and well-defined face in history. You never want to see his eyes bleed red at you in anger, not because it means you are as good as dead, but because you never want to upset him so much that it happens because it would break both your heart and soul to do so. His true form, though I've never seen it, would dwarf near anyone, and you would shake to your very core if he turned those acid-filled jowls at you. The acid there is more powerful, more potent than any other demon, and all would be wise to bow to his will. Someday to be more powerful than even his honorable father, you know you want to please him because should he grace you with trust, you would forever die happy because it would make you so completely fulfilled to earn the trust of someone like him. He emanates strength and power, and you just have to be in awe of him. Anyone to even think of challenging him is a sheer fool, and it is folly even to think you could beat someone like him. He makes you want to be stronger, better, just in hopes of being allowed to stand near him. You know you will never be anywhere near his power because no one will ever surpass pure power like he has, the power that he has trained and refined into the most effective weapon that even Totosai can't forge a sword that could compete with such power. Pray to every kami-sama there is that he is your ally and never your enemy, for as your ally, you will never find someone so loyal and true as he is, and as your enemy, you will perish in the most horrid of ways and have no hope for survival. Yes, when you see Sesshomaru, you will know, and should feel blessed to see him."

I stared down at the girl, trying to commit what she had said to memory to write it down. It was better than anything I had heard as my description, and the one I wanted to be told across Japan. "You will say it again, slowly, so this one may write it down."

"Do you have something to write with?" she smiled up at me brightly, clearly glad that I liked it.

"What are you doing Usagi?" the older sister was panting, staring at me as if she had never seen me before. It was a mix of awe and fear, and slight desire. Yes, that was the reaction I wanted when people heard what the young girl said and then saw me.

The young girl shrugged. "I was going to write it down for him."

I stared at her like she was stupid. "Human females do not know how to write."

She raised an eyebrow at me this time. "This human female can read and write. She can also speak two other languages and fight." I raised an eyebrow at the end. "Oh no, we are not playing an eyebrow game. Yes, I was having trouble with my first demon. But hello, I have no shoes on here! All things considered, I did give him a nice and deep stab while jumping from a tree, and I held on to the sword when I was thrown from him. I also kicked him several times before you showed up."

"Showed up and saved your life three times."

"Details! I was doing great!" I was about to raise my eyebrow again when she seemed to read my mind and reach up to stop it. But she only got part-way of her reach that still would not have been tall enough before her hand froze. Her eyes went wide, showing off a jade color that sparkled all the more with open lids. Then she grabbed my arms and used more force than I thought capable of pulling me down slightly just as something shot where my head had been. I turned and flicked my wrist out at the demon hardly worth even noticing and pierced it between its eyes with my acid whip. I pierced it enough to kill it, but it still growled.

The girl had my sword again and was running over to the demon. She whacked its neck five times, a surprising few considering the thickness of the skin on the demon, and when the head fell off, she kicked the head away then kicked the body several times for good measure. It would have died momentarily after falling, but the girl made sure it was good and dead. The weak demon would have been only able to leave a sting for a fraction of a second with its attack, but the girl did not know that. She stamped on its chest, breaking a few ribs, and then huffed at it. She cleaned my sword on the grass and headed back to me and slipped the sword in its sheath at my hip.

"Are you going to make a habit of taking the sword?" I asked curiously.

"If you are around and it is my only weapon option, probably." At least she was honest. "I don't really have another way to defend myself. Kicks are nice, but I'm not sure where the best place to kick them is. Plus, stabbing power beats a kick if you do it right." It was sound logic, but it was very obvious. I only just stopped myself from smirking at her.

"Usagi!" the older sister called. I pushed the young girl out of the way as a second attack came sailing in. She landed better this time, and I flicked my wrist at the first demon, then turned for the second to the other side.

"Want that girl!" it grumbled out, hardly sounding like words.

She stood, placed her hands on her hips, and glared at it. "No, you no get this girl. This girl is gonna get you and kick you to the next life."

It growled. "You aren't even using it! Give it!"

"Using what? My leg to kick you in unsavory places? Come over, and I'll fix that." She was feisty and unafraid of the thing. It was either a foolish front, or she had that much faith in herself.

The demon lunged at her far too slowly, and she stepped out of the way easily and did what she said she would and landed a kick into its side. The sound of an exploding spleen was rather wonderful. She did have faith in herself; it seemed.

It howled and curled in on itself briefly, then turned angry eyes at the girl. "I want the Jewel of the Gods Souls! I will kill you!"

I froze, though I did not show it. The demon lunged twice, at the girl's right side. Twice she sidestepped it and kicked it hard enough both times to do damage. But it would just anger the demon. Obtaining the information I needed, I flicked its head off with my acid whip.

Turning back to the young girl, her older sister stood in front of her with her arms out, as if to block me from getting to the girl. "Stay back, we aren't going for a repeat of my life," the girl said icily. I had no idea what she was talking about, but she wasn't my target.

"Move."

"No! You will not touch her!"

I stared at the older girl. She would realize her error in trying to keep the horrid jewel away from me. I was about to take a step forward to move her forcibly away from my target if I needed to when the younger girl wrapped her arms around her sister in a hug then stepped around her. "It's okay, Kagome. Grandpa told the stories enough times." The older girl tried to grab her sister, but the small girl was too quick and feinted going one way before darting the other way. She would have been an excellent, if strange, addition to my father's army had she been born a demon.

She stood in front of me and rolled up the bottom of her shirt to just under where her chest bindings would be. She gave me a weak smile. "Okay Sesshomaru, if I'm anything like my sister, it is in my stomach cavity. Use your awesome powers to feel it out before you slice me open though if you don't mind. Oh, and can I hang on to your shoulder while you get it out?" I raised an eyebrow at that, unable to help myself. There were no marks on her body to show it had been inserted in the place she suggested it was in; the skin was smooth, free of any blemish, and flat. But I could see the outline of semi-trained muscles as she took a deep breath. Why she wanted to touch me if I was going to be piercing that skin was slightly confusing and disgusting sounding. She might try to run me through with my own sword. "I'm not exactly going to be screaming bloody murder next to an Inu's ears. I'm not that rude. I think your shoulder is strong enough to handle blunt human nails." My other eyebrow shot up at this. I had prepared for a headache with the volume of her scream. I doubted she could actually be silent; humans were far too weak for that.

I nodded, and she placed her hands on my shoulders as I bent to find where the cursed jewel was located and tried to not shudder in disgust. The jewel indeed was inside her skin, dangerously close to several organs. It would not be pleasant for me at all to remove it. I gave no warning and struck my claws into the skin. It pierced like tissue, but soft and silky tissue. I briefly realized the shame of ruining it but pushed it from my mind. True to her word, she dug her blunt nails into my shoulder, but not nearly as strong as she should have needed to as not to be screaming. Looking at her face, her lower right eyelid twitched several times, but her face was stoic and blank like she was listening to dull news. There was a slight ripping of grass sound, and I glanced down to her toes. She was digging her toes into the ground as well, in some foolish attempt to not hurt my shoulders.

"This Sesshomaru would feel no pain from your weak nails. The blood you will spill damaging your feet like that will attract even more demons. You already are bleeding from this wound." As if to prove me wrong, she dug her nails in deeper, leaving five half-moon circles on each shoulder that did indeed hurt for a fraction of a second, then she pulled them back as if realizing her error. Her toes stopped digging into the ground, and she still did not scream.

I dug my claws in slightly deeper, and she still made no sound. My finger brushed the jewel, and it stung, like the cursed thing it was, and I reflexively pulled away and down, digging my claws sharp and fast through flesh. I decided she would indeed be a very powerful warrior had she been born a demon, as she stood strong and did not falter or scream in pain. She even refused to dig her nails into my shoulders or dig her toes into the ground. I carefully closed my claws around it to touch the jewel as little as possible and pulled it towards the opening in her body to remove it. Close to the surface, I pulled my claws back briefly from the stinging.

She put her hand on mine and pulled my fingers out. I let her, and she dug her fingers inside, still staying silent, and I realized she was focusing on her breathing to stay quiet. If she had been born a demon, she would have been one of the strongest warriors to grace our army, one I would have taken to training and trusted. She was obviously not trained and had more potential than any recruit that I had seen in my lifetime if not for being human. Something had to have hardened her beyond her childish few years. I could respect her, even more, when she pulled the jewel out of her body and still did not scream as the skin tore slightly more when the cursed jewel was pulled out. She closed her hand around it and looked at me.

"Thank you for getting it out." Her voice did not even shake.

She never screamed once, and thus, I had no headache to speak of. A compliment was in order as thanks. "You are very strong for a human child."

She looked at me then started laughing. "Sesshomaru, how old do you think I am?"

"Ten or eleven." Did she not know how old she was? Indeed, she did not have control of her mental facilities.

She turned to her sister. "Does everyone think I'm a little kid? Is it because I'm so short? My baby face? The half-lidded eyes that make me look like I'm ready for my naptime?" She was upset at my answer. She turned back and pouted at me. "I'm sixteen at the very least."

"Do you take this Sesshomaru as a fool?"

She lifted her pant leg off her right ankle and turned it to me. Part of the ankle bone had long ago been broken and since healed. "There is a bone in there called "the growth plate." It is what makes you get taller. Mine was broken into several pieces. Even after healing, I only grew about five centimeters since then. I was short for my age, to begin with, so I'm just very short."

"Hn." It seemed like a logical answer, but I did not know much medicine to know if it was true. I knew even less about human bodies. I knew they healed slowly and could die easily of things that would never even affect a demon, but I didn't know much else. Father had made sure of that.

She raised her arms and dropped them, jewel still in hand and blood trailing down from her stomach wound. She needed attention, or the place would be swarming with demons very soon. She still had blood on her feet, and her hands and nose had some wounds. There might even be some on her knees if my nose was correct, and it always was.

I pulled my pouch of traveling money, a small fortune that I had never used on patrols and held it out to the older sister. "You will buy shoes, two kimonos, and medical supplies to treat the girl's wounds. There is a village just over the hill."

She stepped up and took it wearily, and nearly dropped it from the weight. "This must be a fortune! Why would you trust me with this much?"

"This One does not have debts."

"What kind of debt costs this much?" the older sister asked, peeking inside.

"You will go now." The girl was slow, despite her earlier desperation to help her sister.

The younger girl took slower steps than she had before to her sister and placed a hand on the older girl's shoulder. "Kagome, this thing is kinda painful to be touching." The air filled with the stench of a lie. So, the girl had noticed it hurt me to touch it, but it did not hurt her, and she was lying to protect my honor. It was a waste she was not born a demon. I would dearly like to have a girl such as her at my side in at least one battle to know how she would fare. "Can you just go get what he said to? I want to sit down for a bit. Plus, it is Sesshomaru. He does nothing without reason, and if he wanted this jewel, he isn't going to let anything hurt me to get it. Don't go insulting a Taiyoukai like Sesshomaru thinking he isn't sure in every move he makes and that he wouldn't be able to protect me and the jewel until you get back. You and I both know Sesshomaru has too much honor and is far too strong to do anything other than his word, and you should," she paused and took her first shaking breath, but the sister didn't notice the tiny pause before the girl continued, "just go get me a nice big bandage for this while I sit a moment and have a little mental freak out about all of this." The younger girl gave a smile to her sibling, and with a nod, the older girl clutched the pouch of money and started towards the village.

"Do not forget socks or soap." The older turned back to me and nodded, then took off at a fast jog.

The younger girl took a deep, ragged breath, and bit her lip. She was in a great deal of pain from her wounds. "Hey Sesshomaru, do you mind if I actually do sit down? I don't feel all that great." I was about to answer when she swayed one way, then the other. It was not the most defensible place in the forest, so I picked her up and moved towards the village and a slightly more defensible position. She tried to pull away and took another ragged breath from the pain of moving, and the smell of her blood became more pronounced. Still, she did not scream, and it was a sign of her strength that she did not. It was highly impressive of a human female.

I set her down where there was more coverage in the form of boulders, but impossible to sneak up from any side. I sat next to her and watched her from the corner of my eye. Her eyes were closed, and she was focusing on her breathing again. I took a slight sniff, trying to find a trace of demon blood in her. She was fully human, and she might smell pleasant if she did not smell like so much blood.

"You have no demon blood."

"You have powerful Inu Taiyoukai blood." She opened her eyes and looked at me. "Oh, are we not having a moment of stating obvious things?" she asked, then closed her eyes again and leaned her head against the bolder. "What are you trying to say then Sesshomaru?"

I did not know what I was trying to say. It was strange. I had never had such difficulty. I did not speak unless it was needed, but I never was short of words that usually worked perfectly for the situation. "You are stronger than many demons that have crossed this One's path."

She gave a very weak chuckle, then sucked in her most ragged breath yet. "Coming from you, if I translated it to any compliment a human could or has given me, I'm pretty sure that is the best compliment I will get in my whole life. Thank you." Her voice faded and got slurred as she spoke. She would not be conscious for very long. Still, she did not scream.

"Why do you not scream?" It came out without consent, but I had to know the answer.

She gave a reply so garbled that even my sensitive hearing could not pick it out, and then she was unconscious. I had no headache because, despite the fact she was in so much pain, she fainted, she had refused to scream. She refused to hurt my shoulders and so her toenails and toes were scraped and ragged. She defended my honor and lied for me to her own sibling. She was the strongest human I had ever come across.

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Author's Final Word: There you all are, you wonderful readers! Hope you enjoyed. Again, let me know if you want something more from later posts or something that I can clear up or fix for you. You likely aren't the only one in need if that is true, so help me improve for everyone please! You don't have to do a review, a PM works too if you don't want it out there for the world.

I'd like to give a big thanks and cheer to a wonderful Lady as well before I sign off for the night. The most wonderful LadyxAbsinthe has shown some support for this work, and I am very pleased to have the Lady on my side for this. I should find a way to prove my thanks, and will think about how to do this for the next few days.

Have a good night everyone, and I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with more! Better send the next chapter to GreyWolfie so that it may go up early in the morning instead of an hour after I'm normally asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Hello darling readers! We are back again today. As I'm sure you can see by that scroll bar, this is a rather short chapter... Don't worry, I didn't forget my promise about similar sized uploads. So yay, we will have two again today!

I'd like to thank my beta reader GreyWolfie21 for putting up with the nightmare I was today, and yes, I was a nightmare. My master file got corrupt after a frozen screen the moved to the blue screen of death with over fifty new pages of goodness that was perfect in my mind when what I wrote before didn't pass my writing test. Don't worry, I had a back-up of everything until the eight hours I sat writing that portion. Sadly, I was very upset at losing eight hours of detailed, focused work. Wolfie was a good sport about some of what came from my mouth at losing that. I will likely spend tomorrow building it back before my mind forgets it all. Thus we are somewhere in the middle in terms of word count for where we were in the word counts from chapters 1+2 and 3 as postings for tonight. I will have another chapter tomorrow as usual for us in the start of this journey if my beta and I are able, but it depends on my beta and his schedule as well as if he can find me under the pages of writing and dig me out.

Anyways, here we are and back with Kagome in Edo. Well, sort-of Edo she knows. Who shall we meet? If anyone can spot the character and plot hints for the future in this chapter, good eye! Yes, there are hints, quite a few. I'm not spelling out how many, who, what, anything of the sort. Think of it as a hint for a mini-game if you will. Later chapters you will notice the hints I left in this one. Can you pick out my hints?

Enjoy the chapter, and know that hopefully in sixty minutes or less we will have the next chapter up! Wolfie and I are working as you read!

Also, I own nothing but my own characters. Any ones you know and love aren't mine, even though I wish I could own them.

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The village miko had to be Kaede's ancestor judging by the way that she talked. She easily sensed me coming, and stood outside her hut, in the same area as Kaede's would be. She nodded at me and greeted me like should would a child or grandchild.

"Have ye come for this old miko's help?" she asked with a small smile.

I nodded. "Hello there. I'm hoping you might have some bandages, medicine, and some clothes and shoes that I could purchase. I can pay you for them."

The older miko looked me up and down. "And just who would the bandages be for?"

I silently cursed, knowing that I should have picked up on the fact she could tell from my reki I was not injured. I decided that as much of the truth would be the best bet. "They are for my younger sister. She is out in the forest and injured. She has no shoes and she and I both need some kimonos."

The Miko looked me up and down. "Surely ye sensed the forest was full of demons? Your sister is dead if ye left her alone. There have been large amounts of youkai tonight. One large source of youkai is just outside the forest."

She was stronger than she let on. "My sister has a strong protector who has reason to see her alive and well until I return. But even he cannot stop death without medicine." I only just managed to keep the word "yet" from spilling from my lips.

She looked me up and down and headed into her hut with a wave of her hand for me to follow. She held a finger up to keep me quiet while two lumps on the floor slept. She hardly had anything to see by, but she seemed to know where everything was. There was a time where I debated having a smaller house like this when I lost my papers I was given for my project for three weeks in the largeness of the house. It seemed much simpler and better in my eyes.

When the miko had found everything she needed, she picked up two bows and quivers and handed them to me, then picked up a third for herself. She packed everything into a cloth bag and handed it over. I pulled several coins from the pouch and folded them into the woman's hand, bowed, and headed out.

She followed on my heels, quick despite her growing age, and headed out. I had a long time to get used to Sesshomaru's youkai, but the woman seemed unfazed by it as well. We followed it through a field, and the youkai pulsed in a warning. I struggled to keep my reki from lashing out at the assault. The future Sesshomaru often made it clear that even if it would not hurt him or Rin, that Rin could feel it and said it itched for several minutes, and Jaken and Ah-Un would not fare well from an uncontrolled reki-wave. It may have been a habit to try and squash it when he flared it like he often did, but I wasn't sure how he would feel with two miko of unknown power coming towards him if I let mine flare back.

I spotted my sister first and instantly wished I had a camera with me. She was pressed against the powerful Taiyouki lord with her head on his shoulder and nuzzling him like she was often to do to me when she fell asleep watching movies with me. Her little hand was clenched in a death grip against his front, and somehow, part of his hair had gotten caught in her hand as well. As a result, his head was resting on her head so as not to pull his own hair, and he glared at me as I came up. Had I not known Sesshomaru, I would have said he was glaring at me to keep me from making noise and to keep his lover from waking up. Had I a camera, Inuyasha just might have believed me. I had to bite my lip to keep from falling over in laughter at the sight.

"Remove your sister from this one. You should have informed that she would attach herself like a pup desperate for attention," he said with a glare. At any other time, I would have wilted and rushed to do what Sesshomaru said before he found a way for revenge, but with my little sister in the picture, it was too much like he was a spoilt child complaining and not a powerful lord at all.

The miko stared and finally bowed. "It is an honor you return to our humble village, Lord Sesshomaru."

I stared at the miko, confused. "You know each other?"

"Oh yes, Lord Sesshomaru and his Honorable Father have visited many times on patrol and pays handsomely for medicinal herbs from one of our farmers. He is known to have the best herbs in all of Japan, and he refuses to share any of his secrets with anyone but his son and daughter-in-law. The village is well-protected to protect the herbalist and his family and the land where the herbs are grown." She smiled at him and relaxed her bow. "Had I known it was you from such a distance, I would have had men come to meet you." She stared down at my sister. "Who is she, my lord? Had I known you had a traveling companion, I would have grabbed better clothing for her and her sister."

Sesshomaru stared at me, and I moved closer to them. I placed a hand on Usagi's forehead and hummed softly. For the first time, she rejected my waking her and instead snuggled closer into Sesshomaru. Deciding on drastic measures by the way he growled, I started prying one of her little fingers away. Using her foot, she pulled back and kicked me away from her. I landed on my butt hard.

"Usagi!" I moved back towards her, and she curled into Sesshomaru, not once waking up. I grabbed her hand again and found myself on my butt once more.

He glared down at her as best he could and growled much louder and deeper. This time, my sister did nothing to soften the image he created. "Wake up," he commanded, but she did not move. I was afraid he would physically pry her off of himself any second. Instead, he grabbed the hand clinging to him and squeezed. "Wake up." Sesshomaru did not often repeat himself. He would get very angry if he had to use his rarely used voice to say the same thing twice. He was very angry for a half-second when my little sister did not do as he ordered a second time, then the anger was gone from his face.

Sesshomaru lifted his hand and ran a claw down my sister's cheek, and if I saw any blood, I would have had no control of my reki. "Usagi." It was a command and order, but the way he said her name had me hoping he would say my name like that. My toes curled, and the miko next to me visibly shivered from the deep rumble of his voice. Like magic, my sister blinked her eyes open and released her grip on him.

I was not prepared for the sharp intake of breath from her. She never showed signs of pain, and her hand pressed into her side. She would have doubled over if not for the hand Sesshomaru placed on her shoulder to keep her from doing so. I instantly fell to my knees and grabbed her other shoulder. "Usagi! Are you okay?" I had never seen Usagi in pain like this, and it terrified me.

"Big sister," she wheezed out, "I have a hole in my upper stomach. Do you think that qualifies as okay?" She gave a humorless chuckle, then sat up. "Sorry, it just hurt a bit," she said softly and squeezed my hand.

I glared at her. "Shirt off, now. Let me bandage it."

She glanced at Sesshomaru, who had a stoic face on. "Ha! Good one Kagome. Do you see his face? Clearly he is trying to hide the fact of how much he wants to see me topless with that stoic face of his!" She really laughed this time and then fainted dead away. Sesshomaru's strength held her dead-weight up, and he reached and ripped her shirt clear from the wound, but kept her modesty covered. If it was to save his reputation, he did not show that her comment bothered him in the slightest.

The Miko knelt next to me, and together we worked on bandaging the giant finger-holes in my little sister. I tried not to cringe as her stomach muscles quivered, and she did not move. The Taiyoukia's stare was the only indication of where my sister was injured enough to need care, and when we finished, he passed her weight to us.

"Change into something decent." I stared at his back as he paced several feet away, then started changing my sister into the kimono with the Miko's help. When she was dressed down to her toes, I leaned her carefully against the bolder, then changed my clothes. I hardly finished tying the obi when Sesshomaru turned back around and picked my sister up.

"Hey! She needs rest!" I grabbed her, but Sesshomaru was already walking away.

"You will follow this Sesshomaru to The Western Palace," he said, offering nothing more as he carried my sister off. I bowed to the miko, picked up the two bows and quivers, and jogged after him. "You do not need those. Leave them."

I glared at him. "If only I had that necklace," I grumbled.

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Author's Note: Wolfie suggested that if anyone is really bugged by how many hints I've given in this chapter, if you PM me on the Thursday after this is posted or later, I'll tell you the number only.

We are working our fluffy tails off! Stick around and I'll be back again tonight!


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Okay, back rather quick, as promised! I don't need a whole big thing to say here, but please read the capped letters and lines following this.

**MINOR TRIGGER ALERT! **I promised that I would be real. I promised I wouldn't hold back from the aftermath of something horrific, just to lower the rating. No, I'm not doing a flashback in the sense I will show the horrific event. It happened. You don't need to know it all. As a rape victim myself, this fic started as a therapy piece and grew much larger. I'd never want all the details out. But the aftermath of something tragic is real and can last a lifetime. I don't sugarcoat it. Something tiny can send you down memory lane, and it can be brutal. You develop coping strategies, and they aren't always healthy, but you think that is what you need. Or at least it is all you can do in your mind to try and cope, survive, and move on. My heart goes to anyone reading who has something horrific in their past and is dealing with its aftermath every day. You are not alone, and I am here saying it will get better, even if it takes a lifetime. Never give up, because if you give up it never can get better. If you don't go on, you'll never reach the other side. Fight on.

Sorry for the slight wait, but here we are.

Thank you GreyWolfie21, for understanding as best you could my tears on this chapter.

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The soft breeze on my face woke me. Soft footsteps and the hardly-noticeable sway was the only indication I was moving. I might as well have been on a bed or in a hammock it was so peacefully easy. I slowly took in the parts of my body and the levels of pain I was in. My stomach wound was nasty and hurt like a son-of-a-gun. Everything else paled in comparison to that wound. My hand was firmly wrapped around the reason for the stomach wound. I took two breaths and then forced my eyes open.

Sesshomaru was looking down at me, and it took a few seconds to realize he was carrying me while walking, and not watching where he was going. I gave a weak smile at him, then moved the hand with the jewel a bit more away from him so that it was sure not to harm. "Good morning," I said and tried to suppress a yawn, but completely failed.

"It is afternoon," was his answer. He paused and turned backward. "She is awake."

Kagome yelped and raced forward, yanking my arm and jostling me. Sesshomaru didn't put me down but moved off through the forest again. "I need to change her bandages then!" Kagome said, following us. "Usagi, are you okay?"

"You have to stop asking that. I'm fine, just a little sore," I told her with a smile. She didn't seem fully convinced, but she didn't say anything. I looked back at Sesshomaru who quirked an eyebrow at me as if to tell me I was a very bad liar. I huffed softly, trying not to work my stomach muscles too much and reopen the wound. His other eyebrow shot up at that. I glared at him, then decided walking was in order.

The second I pushed against him to stand on my own, he tightened his grip around me. "No."

"But-," I started, and he glared at me.

"No."

"Stubborn and controlling inu," I muttered.

"Yes."

I stared at him with an open mouth in shock. "Excuse me?" I slapped his chest, and Kagome gasped. I held up a finger to her without turning to look at her. Sesshomaru stared down at me with a blank expression. "Kagome, did you just hear that? Sesshomaru here just called himself stubborn and controlling. Someone pinch me. What is he going to admit next?"

He carefully placed me down on a bolder next to a stream and made sure I was sitting and steady before walking off. Kagome started untying my kimono as soon as he was out of sight. "You are going to get yourself killed!" she hissed at me in anger.

"This is great, isn't it?" She looked at me like I was stupid. The threw my hands up as she pulled the bandaged off and waited while she pulled the medicine out of the wound, washed it, and then repacked it with healing herbs. She finally looked at me as she started rewrapping me with a clean bandage. "Think about it. A whole new look on this! This one I get to see too. I can't wait!"

"We are getting rid of that jewel," she said with a nod to my hand, "and then we are going home. I'm not going to have you in danger. You've had enough danger in your life." I froze. She realized her error, but I wasn't listening anymore. I stood slowly, kicked my shoes and socks off, and stepped into the stream. It was shallow, hardly more than a few inched deep, but it was water. I let it run over my toes and feet.

Kagome grabbed my hand, trying to pull me out. But Kagome never had my strength. She tugged a few times, but I just started at the water. Water was purity. I kept trying to think of purity. Kagome finally gave up and left me to myself.

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Author's Note: Enjoy your day. I'll be back hopefully tomorrow for you all.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Hello my dear readers! Back again today. GreyWolfie21 and I got quite a bit done, so I'll put it all out! Yay!

Again, Usagi is in the middle of an "episode" and will pull out of it part-way through the chapter, don't worry! Enjoy the chapter!

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The older sister was shouting far too loudly. There was no youkai in the area, and there were no smells of horses or other humans. I stepped closer to where I left the two girls, and older sister came running up, begging me to get her sister. She was talking at a horrible and grating decibel. I held up a hand and moved into the clearing where the stream ran through.

The younger sister, Usagi, was standing in the stream, looking down at it. Her toes were bright red, minutes from turning blue. I did not want to have to remove the girl's feet, so I dropped the kill next to the water and then stepped in and lifted her out of the stream which was little better than running ice. Still, she stared down at it but didn't struggle or try to move. She was deadweight, heavier than she had been even when asleep.

I moved her back towards the shore and set her down on the bolder again. She just stared at the water and didn't move. It was a defense mechanism. Something had bothered the girl greatly. I pointed at the older sister then at my kill. I sat down and leaned against the same bolder as Usagi and kept an eye on her.

The older sister slowly cleaned the kill and then gathered firewood to cook it. It was a rather small kill for me, but I did not have an appetite today for human-cooked food. While the older sister looked around and patted herself down, I flicked my acid whip and sparked the fire for her.

Usagi did not willingly take the meat or even acknowledge it when it was passed to her. The older sister placed the stick of meat into the young girl's hand and tried for several minutes to talk to her sister, but the girl did not speak.

The older girl was not much of a cook. The meat was not cooked evenly. It smelled wrong, and I plucked it from Usagi's hand. Carefully I held it over the fire and cooked the lesser-done parts, then held it back out to the girl. Still, the girl looked at the water.

"Why does she stare at the water?" I asked the older girl.

She sighed and stared at her sister. "She had more challenges growing up than most kids. I don't think she ever left some of it in her mind."

"That does not answer the question."

"I wish I knew why she stared at the water. She will snap out of her funk when she is ready, or something triggers it."

I pressed the meat against her lips, and she ate, not watching or paying any attention. I could not carry the jewel, so she must survive until we reached the Western Fortress and my father. If this was common, then I realized the challenge I was now faced with. She ate without looking. It could have been poison.

After the girls ate and I saw no change, I turned to the elder. "Sleep." She nodded and laid down. She had amazing stamina and speed despite being human. It made me curious how the younger would fare should she not be injured. But the elder had walked over twelve hours with only one short break, so she should be allowed to sleep to continue the same pace, if at least for an hour or so. The girl slept within a few minutes of laying down.

Usagi stared at the water, and I watched her. Somehow, despite the wound, she kept the scent of her pain down. Even asleep, she had mostly kept the smell to a tolerable level. Again, I couldn't help thinking about how she would have made a powerful demoness, one to be reckoned with if what little I had seen of her was true.

Shifting, I looked at her face. It was a haunting sight. It was as if she suddenly lost a great deal of weight and all life from her body. The pain was clear, but it was the sadness that stopped me. Something made her incredibly sad, but there was none of it in her scent. She did not even smell of tears. But I could see the sadness, the same sadness my mother often wore when my father ignored her. I could not stop the look on my mother's face, but I might stop it on this woman-child.

I ran a claw along her cheek, lightly and not to draw blood, and then the scent of tears slowly rose. I had learned from father that sometimes women needed to cry to become strong again. It did not make them weak; it just helped them to cope quicker. My mother never cried. I would test my father's knowledge. I did not like touching humans when avoidable, though I had no great dislike of them, this one had proved her power. It was not a horrid feeling to touch her with my claw, and I ran my fingers along her cheek this time.

It was smooth, smoother than it had a right to be. There was almost no slick oil feel that most humans around the age she claimed carried, and before I could think about it, I cupped the side of her face. She leaned into it and started to cry, softly, and moved off the bolder a moment later and into my lap.

She was tiny, not just for her age, but her bones were tiny. Maybe tiny wasn't the correct word for them. They were small, delicate, and the flesh around them had almost no sign of fat. She shifted and hid her face in my shoulder and cried. I had no idea what to do with this. The scent of her tear was a burn like salt on a wound, and I placed a hand on her shoulder to make her cease the tears. She pressed closer to my shoulder, but the scent eased slightly. I place my other hand on her hip to push her away without hurting her wounds and making them open, and the tears stopped, and she went half-limp, pressing against my chest.

She made a soft sound of content, followed by a sigh, and calmed. She was young but responsive. She may indeed be the age she claimed, but I would still ask the doctors about the injury she spoke of to find out if such a thing were indeed true. After a few moments, she fell into a light sleep. When I tried to move her, she fisted my hair again but did not fist it as high this time. I was still able to move mostly, so I allowed her to stay. She was not heavy, and she had a pleasant scent now without any smell of pain. Even the blood had been washed away. It was sweet but spiced at the same time, and the smell of cherry blossoms and flowers I couldn't remember the name of.

She stayed like that for an hour, then sat up suddenly releasing my hair at the same time. She flushed red and stood up and sat on the bolder again. She sucked her finger, then lifted it into the air. After a moment, she put the hand down, and her toes wiggled. She picked up her socks and put them back on, and a half-second short of the minute she put her hand up again.

"The wind is blowing that direction," I told her pointing. I assumed with having been asleep; she did not know the directions while in the trees with no landmarks and the sun nearly directly overhead. She nodded, stood and stepped into her shoes, and nearly ran off.

She went a distance, almost far enough for me to not get a hint of why she ran off. For some reason, she thought I would be offended at the need to relieve herself and went so far. It was not pleasant if there was a lot of such things in an area, but I doubted her small body could produce an offending amount.

I stood and stamped on the fire's ember remains when she continued off, and the smell of excitement hit my nose as the wind changed direction briefly. Something had distracted her, and there was a faint youkai in that direction. I kicked the shoe of her sister as I moved by, and then started into a run after the girl who was moving almost too fast for her injury to not open.

After a short while, I slowed as I got close to where the youkai and the girl were centered. The smell indicated a rabbit youkai and a very young youkai at that. I scented the air and listened. The girl was talking away and sitting on the ground from the scent. There were several rabbits and only one youkai.

I stepped closer, and the girl was chatting in a foreign language. I recognized some of the words as English, something I was slowly learning for father's dealings with the mainland. When she came into view, she had a giant rabbit next to her, the youkai, and a tiny rabbit on each shoulder. In her lap were four more tiny rabbits, and across her legs were two larger rabbits.

The youkai spotted me and squealed and shook. She paused and looked at me, then started talking to the rabbit again. After a few moments, it stopped shaking and then pressed into her side again.

"Don't hurt the nice lady," the youkai said in youkai tongue to me, a rather bold move for one so young. I stared at the young boy rabbit.

"Sesshomaru, can we bring these adorable rabbits with us? Netherland Dwarf Rabbits are my favorites, and look at these Holland Lops they're so sweet, and to see a Flemish Giant in the flesh!" she was very excited and pet the youkai, clearly not knowing it was a youkai. I raise an eyebrow at that. Usagi looked at me, and I doubted there was a puppy alive to compete with the puppy dog eyes she threw my way. It was alarming.

"Where is the jewel?"

"Oh, in my kimono, don't worry. Rabbits as cute as these don't need it." She bent her head over and nuzzled the youkai, and it did not sit well. It raised my hackles in a way it shouldn't have. The youkai was young, but it did not mean that it was not after the jewel, but the young youkai was not strong enough to protect itself from me if it did try to take the jewel. "Please? Just for a bit?"

"No." I did not permit myself to say it, but I did, and it was harsher than it should have been to gain the girl's favor to keep carrying the jewel to my father. She pouted, and the scent of her tears hit my nose hard. "They will slow us down," I said slightly less cold to try and justify the answer and show her reason.

She shook her head. "I'm in no hurry. I've never really traveled. I'm sure Kagome will make me go home as soon as we can." Usagi's eyes got far off as she seemed to get lost in thought, her hand reaching to her chest where I could sense the jewel hiding in her breast bindings.

"You may not be in a hurry, but this one's presence was expected tonight at the Western Palace. It will take at least another day to make it with the slow pace of your sister."

She frowned and looked at me. "Are all inu-youkai always in such a hurry to go place? 'Feh! Hurry your slow ass up wench!'"

I nearly flinched with how well she mimicked my father. "You know this one's honorable father?"

She looked at me blankly, then started laughing. All the rabbits around her, including the youkai, looked at her instantly. And it was beautiful, in a way no human I had ever seen could be. She laughed fully, without restraint, tears trailing down her cheeks. I did not know what was funny about what I said, but as the wind blew and teased her hair, it was something I knew, no one could ever truly capture. It made me still and lose some of the anger at her laughter from the beauty of it.

"God-sent," the little youkai said and pressed against her side.

Kagome, the older sister, stared from a few paces back in the trees with a giant smile on her face and whispered a soft thanks.

When Usagi stopped laughing, she brushed the tear tracks away and petted the youkai next to her. She looked back at me and smiled. "No, I don't know your father. I know one of your relatives, though. I was quoting what Kagome told me was said to her."

"What were you quoting Usagi?" Kagome asked with worry filling her voice and scent.

"Wench shut your mouth! This ain't got anything to do with you!" It was eerie how well she did it. I tried to think of what relative she was speaking of.

Kagome did not seem as happy as Usagi. "Just be glad that I can't sit you like I can him!"

Usagi pulled the sword from my hip yet again and hefted it over her shoulder. "Then who would save your ass from when some weak bastard tries to kidnap you again? Keh, can't stay outta trouble one minute!"

"Oh fine, then save me from that "weak bastard" who is coming to "kidnap me again," Kagome growled out in anger and pointing in the direction that there was a faint youkai energy approaching from.

"Ha, let's see it last one second against me! Some pathetic little thing like that ain't gonna be able to stop me." I was about to open my mouth to remind her about her last run-in with a youkai when it leaped into view. "Oh, you were serious," she said slightly dumb-struck staring at it.

It snickered at her. "Oh, some kid with a mouth on her is going to take me down in one second? Shall we start counting?" It flew at her, but she was in the way for me to get a clear attack in. She slashed at it, and while the blade dug into the youkai's hands slightly, it wasn't strong enough to hurt the thing. "Disappointed." It looked around, ignoring her, and its eyes fell on the rabbits. "Rabbits! Yummy rabbi-," it grunted in a halt as it was kicked away from the girl, and then with a scream of an angry mother protecting her pup, she whacked its head off in one swing.

She then stabbed the body and head yelling at it with each stab. "Those. Are. My. Bunnies. You. Do. Not. Touch. My. Bunnies. You. Son. Of. A," I grabbed her wrist from another stab and freed the blade from her hand. She kicked the body several more times before I wrapped an arm around her stomach and hoisted her to my hip, my arm moving to hold her under her rear at my hip. Then she surprised me and snarled at the body. She would have been a ferocious protector of her children had she been a youkai, and she added another tick to her merits list.

I looked at the sister then the rabbits. "It is another day to the Western Palace. Follow if you will."

The rabbits and the sister followed quickly after us.

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Author's Note: There you have it, we have rabbits! Where will that lead us? Next chapter shortly!


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Shorter chapter, but the next will be up in a minute! Sorry Sesshomaru, I had to do this to you, please forgive me!

Enjoy the chapter, the next is coming rather quick too! Give me just a few minutes!

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Stupid Sesshomaru had not let me down or even cleaned his sword. I mentioned it rusting twice, yet he said nothing nor stopped. I kept an eye on the rabbits, talking to them. The dwarf rabbits moved quickly, and I was afraid for their little hearts at the pace.

I whacked Sesshomaru's chest. "Let me down! The little rabbits can't keep up!"

He peeked over his shoulder at them. "The weak will never survive."

Okay, nice girl time over. I wiggled my leg and kicked him where I probably shouldn't since it was Sesshomaru, but bunnies were in danger, and all bets were off. He froze and stilled, then dropped me flat on my butt. Ignoring him, I scooped up the six little bunnies and placed one on each shoulder, then carried the other four in my arms. The lops seemed okay for now, and the Flemish seemed to be dealing well with the pace with its larger size.

I set off with the rabbits following after a stunned sister who kept glancing behind her at the stoic lord who did not move and me. "Is he following?" I asked after a while, and I lost sight of him. Kagome ignored my question and kept glancing back over her shoulder like she hadn't heard what I said. With the way that she was staring, it was possible that she hadn't heard.

The Flemish kept right next to my leg and kept an eye on the lops. I smiled down at it. "This is the strangest little group of bunnies I've ever seen. You, Mr. Flemish, seem to be their leader. And a very proud looking leader you are. I didn't think that this would happen for some years." I glanced at the lops myself and smiled as they hopped after me.

Obviously, I couldn't walk at the same time as looking somewhere else and tripped in my strange shoes. I took three stumbling steps, half-righted myself, and slammed my nose into Sesshomaru's chest. He looked down and raised an eyebrow, then scooped me up along with the bunnies. "You are troublesome."

"Thank you!" I replied with a large smile. His face became more stoic, and I decided to pretend it was because he was trying not to laugh. He carried me off in a different direction than that which we had been traveling. "Why are we going this way?"

"Because we now have no choice," was his simple answer like it explained everything.

I nodded. "And we now have no choice because," I trailed off at the end. He didn't say anything, and I huffed. "Okay, we have no choice but to change direction because you have decided that the bunnies are the most adorable and sweet thing you have ever seen, and you want them to follow us because they make you look like a loving leader. Good to know."

This time Sesshomaru snorted. "You human, are going to make this Sesshomaru impossibly late to the diplomatic meeting that this one is required to be present at."

"That isn't an answer! At least not one that makes sense." I glanced over at Kagome. "Hey sister, does that make sense to you?" She shook her head and opened her mouth, but I cut her off. "You know what? It is Sesshomaru. When did he ever really make full sense? We're just going to have to roll with it, or we'll get rolled over if we don't. Just kick back, attempt to find some popcorn, and try to figure out why we are in a giant clearing." I stared around at the new area Sesshomaru had kindly brought us to as he set me on my feet. I peeked at the Flemish and switched to English. "Hey Mr. Flemish, do you think I'll ever understand men? At this point, I don't think that is a possibility. Then again, men say the same thing about women. What I would give for a nice piece of caramel right now to just give a good chew on and forget things for a bit." The Flemish twitched its ears as I talked, then hopped up to Sesshomaru and thumped its foot when I finished. Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow and growled. I flipped my hands up in the air.

After a moment, Sesshomaru turned to me and stared. I stared right back, and Kagome grabbed my hand. "Usagi, please use your brain for five minutes." I kept staring, and the wind picked up. I kept staring as Sesshomaru transformed in front of me without any warning. Kagome yelped in surprise and jumped back, trying to tug me with her.

He was amazing. Better than any dream. He lowered his head and growled at me, and Kagome backed up quicker. I shook her hand off and stepped up to his snout. He gave a growl that blew back all my hair and kimono, and I jumped up and clung to his snout. His head snapped several feet into the air, and I looked at him as he looked at me. "You're beyond fluffy! I love fluffy! Fluffy is adorable!" I nuzzled the part of his snout that I could reach, and he sat down with me on his snout still. "Kagome!" I shouted down, and she looked up at me with wide eyes. "Kagome, why didn't you say he was fluffy?" I crawled up his snout and sat on his head, petting the fur and then reached over and scratched behind his ear with both hands. I was not prepared for him suddenly flopping down and rolling over. I was uninjured but half-pinned. I kept rubbing his ear because I was surrounded in fluffy-goodness and couldn't help myself. I was so screwed.

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Author's Note: What do you think? Next chapter shortly! I'm sure that Sesshomaru is very displeased at me...

Next chapter will be up in the next few minutes!


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Here we are, and last chapter of the night. Thanks to GreyWolfie21 for getting so much done with me today! Hope you are enjoying it.

We finally hear the story of The Jewel of the Gods Souls this chapter! What is the mysterious jewel? Read on to find out!

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I have no idea what came over myself. Had you told me I would roll over like a pup if I was surrounded with her scent in my true form and she scratched my ear, I would have ripped you to pieces for even suggesting something so stupid. Her scent was different in my true form; much stronger and much more dangerous.

I had no idea what I would name the scent. It was nothing I knew. It was both sweet and spice in my human guise, but the scent changed with the stronger nose of my true form. Usagi's scent now had layers that were the scent of a home and the scents of the outdoors and a meadow in bloom, it was warm, and it was so pure it sent a shiver down my spine, but most of all, there was the smells laced into it that I associated with content, happiness, and love. It was divine, a scent I could not forget. I could care less about what my father would say. This female would stay with me. She was unafraid of my true form, even seemed to find joy in it, and she was strange but smart. She clearly could be a strong warrior. I could think of a hundred reasons why bringing her with me on everything from patrol to meetings with any humans would be beneficial. Her sister was useless, but if it took keeping her sister around, even bringing her family to the Western Palace for protection, this little human would be staying with me. There were rumored ways to keep humans alive with the aid of a strong Taiyoukai. I would seek those rumors down and find how to keep her alive just to keep her scent.

"You are going to squish her."

I huffed at the annoying child demon but rolled off her. She watched me for a moment, jumped up, and darted under my chin and pressed against my chest. "Fluffy, fluffy, so fluffy!" I tried to decide if being called fluffy was a good thing.

"Usagi, the well is broken." The sister was spouting nonsense again. "I don't think we actually are here. I'm almost positive a demon is playing a trick. That is not Sesshomaru." The sister was losing a battle with sanity. I nudged my nose between Usagi and my chest and pushed her slightly away and tossed my head toward my back.

"Kagome just roll with it! I'm not entirely sure I'm not dead since this is so great!" The sister's mouth dropped open. "Come on; I think he wants us on his back. Can you carry the lops?" She scooped up the lops and moved to hoist her much larger sister on my back. I growled, bit the back of the sister's kimono, and half-tossed her on my back before Usagi could hurt herself. She lifted the lops to her sister, then looked at the child demon. "Now, how will this work Mr. Flemish?"

"She speaks too much Japanese. Tell her to talk in English!" the child demon said and hopped up to her. He nuzzled his head against her leg. "She smells so good. I want to cuddle with her!" I growled and picked it up by the scruff of its neck. It thankfully shut up. When Usagi saw how I would carry the child, she nodded. I put the child demon down and used my nose to push her on my back the moment she had the tiny rabbits in her arms. "She is good to rabbits! She isn't scared of demons either. I like her!" I picked up the stupid child, growled in warning, and took to the skies.

The sun was high, but I stayed lower to the ground in case I had to land and to keep the humans warm. I turned my head and looked at them to check. The sister was gripping to my fur with one hand with eyes closed and a tight arm around the other rabbits, but Usagi's eyes were taking everything in, and she wore a giant smile. She liked flying. I could fly with her once every other moon cycle if she liked it so much if it meant she would stay. I checked her every so often, but each time she was turning pinker.

A short way from where I would land, the elder sister gave a forceful shiver. "Usagi, please, tell me a story to distract me."

"This is great! You don't want to be distracted from this, do you?" I gave a half laugh at that, and in my true form, it might have sounded like a cough to the girls, but it wasn't going to hurt my throat. Usagi seemed to get that it was a laugh and threw her head back and laughed with me at how happy she was. Yes, I could fly with her and not be burdened by it.

"I've never been this high! Just tell me a story!"

"What do you want me to tell you?"

"Well, I didn't listen to grandpa about the Shikon no Tama, why would I listen about something that wasn't involved with me like The Jewel of the Gods' Souls?"

"Really, Kagome? Alright then. I'll try and keep you awake with it.

"Once upon a time, there were three major sentient races on Earth. These were the demons, the kami, and humans. The kami had mingled with the kind humans so long, that some humans gained the ability and gift to use the power of the kami. These were called priests, monks, and miko. They were at one time considered the fourth rare.

"But, the demons became upset and jealous and started trying to upset the happy balance that the kami and their holy humans. The kami, in return, tried to let the demons use their power and give them gifts. Their energies were incompatible as they were.

"Upset, the demons demanded that the kami cut the humans and holy humans off from the gifts and ability to use the kami powers. One of the kami was unwilling to part with his favorite holy human. Thus he found a way to turn himself into a tool and showed the demons how to use this tool to their benefit so he could stay with his holy human.

"This worked brilliantly until, in a pinch; a kami told a demon how to turn her into a tool so that they could fight alongside the beings of the underworld. The underworld was spewing lesser demons instead of the demons who had a true form and a human form, and these demons were uncontrollable and seen as vermin compared to the higher demons. In a battle, the kami had been injured, and she was unable to turn herself into the tool needed. The demon she assisted used his youkai and turned the female kami into a tool to fight the lesser demons.

"But, the demon wasn't pleased with this. The kami had done what he wanted when he wanted it. The kami was also unable to turn herself back into her original form until the demon allowed it. Her power was there for the demon to use as he wanted, and he never had to give it up.

"The demon realized he could make the tool bigger and stronger if he forced another kami to join and close around the first kami. Very quickly, the demon started to grow layer after layer of kami over his tool. The tool grew slowly. It would take hundreds of kami to make it big enough and strong enough to satisfy the demon.

"So for years, he grew the tool. He tricked and killed, all to grow, and grow, and grow the tool. Many battles were fought and lost by the kami, their holy humans, regular humans, and demons against using the kami in such a horrid way. The demons who would never use such a tool were unable to even touch the tool for long without it hurting their soul, who was crying in agony for the kami trapped. Even when the tool was in the hands of, for lack of a better term, the good guys, they were unable to revert the tool into the kami they had been.

"One day, a great battle was fought over the tool. After the battle, the tool was nowhere to be found. The evil demon didn't have it, and none of the good guys had it. The evil demon was outraged. In fear of being turned into a new tool, the kami fled. The kami refused to come back to Earth unless it was to see a holy human, and then only for a short while and when it was completely safe.

"The kami did not trust any demons, nor did the kami didn't even fully trust regular humans. Decades passed, and the tool fell from human knowledge. The demons were the only ones who kept their young informed of the tool.

"This tool was called The Jewel of the Gods' Souls. It disappeared and apparently, cursed jewels like the Higurashi women. So here it is, once again in danger. And I'm not even a miko to protect it. Jewel really picked a great host right?" Usagi laughed, but it ended in a sigh. The older sister was silent if in thought or fear I wasn't sure, but Usagi seemed lost thought now.

About three miles from the Western Palace and two and a half an hours of flight from the start later, I landed in one of the clearings that the guards did training in. The sister got off quickly, but Usagi stayed put.

"Kagome, the bunnies," she said softly. The sister turned and yelped, grabbing the bunnies and dropping them on the ground then carefully she pulled her sister off my back. The child demon had gasped. "Kagome, I think I'm well-done." She swayed from side to side. I resumed my other form and grabbed her shoulders to steady her.

"That is a serious sunburn," the child demon said softly. "Quick demon! Take me to my father at the Western Palace!" I stared at the bright red and angry color of Usagi's skin, then at the child demon.

My ears could pick up the sounds of a patrol hurrying towards us. I let go of Usagi's shoulders, and she instantly started swaying again. She grabbed my arm at the same time as the patrol spotted us.

"It is the missing child and Lord Sesshomaru!" one of the guards shouted back at the captain.

The captain pushed forward and stared at Usagi with disgust. I tried to pin him with a stare, but he stared at Usagi and shoved her hand away from my arm. She swayed dangerously, and I grabbed her around the waist. The child demon rammed his head into the captain's leg. "You are out of line captain. She is of great importance to the West. You will apologize, then resign when we reach the Western Palace."

He sputtered, apologized, and disappeared behind the rest of the patrol. The second in command came forward and bowed. "Miss, please let me also apologize. Lord Sesshomaru, that child has been missing three days. We have been looking for the child, but we should have known that the Great Lord Sesshomaru would know of this and find the child. I'll send a man ahead to inform your Honorable Father that the child has been found."

The child demon headbutted the second in command. "Stupid demon! Take me to my father! I need the aloe plant for the pretty lady! She is the one who saved my friends and me!" This time the second in command sputtered. "Don't tell her I'm a demon yet either stupid demon."

"Miss, it seems you have some interesting friends here. They are welcome to come with us." Usagi nodded and bent to pick up the tiny rabbits and pitched forward. I caught her again, but she was mostly limp.

"I think I'm a very well-cooked human," she said softly, then fainted.

"Usagi!" the elder sister shouted and tried to grab her. I lifted the small woman and held her in one arm, then picked up the little rabbits she was so fond of and handed them to the elder sister. I started walking forward with the child demon chattering away at my side about how he would save her.

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Author's Note: There you are everyone! I hope you enjoyed the massive update. I will do my best to see you tomorrow as well. Enjoy your day!


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Hello again today! We have another three chapter update, so give me and GreyWolfy21 a few minutes to get them all up! Sorry for the shorter chapters, but that is how it wanted written.

Today, we get to meet Inu no Taisho! Well, we are in the past and he is Sesshomaru's father and we were heading there... Not too big of a surprise right? What will happen? Read on!

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To say that carrying a human, a second human in tow, and a very upset child demon who was the son of the foreign diplomat into the gates of the Western Palace went terribly would be an understatement. The guards tried to take Usagi immediately, misunderstanding thinking she was a prisoner, which just upset the child demon more. I took more than one pointed stare to warn them away. Usagi already smelled like the rabbits, and I didn't want more demons muddling up her scent.

"Sesshomaru, it seems you brought us quite a group of people. Keh, you always were a strange child." I looked up to my father, who came down the stairs with the rabbit diplomat from the mainland.

An army of child demon rabbits came after them and surrounded the other child rabbit. He transformed back and accepted their hugs then looked at his father, worried. He raced up to his father and started talking in rapid English. After several sentences, the diplomat held up his hand to his son, barked something at a servant, and the servant ran off. He then bowed to me and made his son bow to me.

"Lord Sesshomaru, a pleasure. Forgive my Japanese; I'm not very good yet." I nodded at him and gave a small bow in respect. "My son seems to like that child."

"She belongs to the West and is no child."

He blinked twice then smiled. "Humans age so fast. My apologies. Though for helping my son, I shall help her, yes?" The servant came back with a plant and handed it to the diplomat. "She is pale, yes? Very white? I shall offer you this plant. It has juice inside it that is good for this type of injury."

I accepted the plant with a small bow and then brushed past the two as I headed towards my rooms in the palace. The sister did not follow, but all the rabbits hopped after the girl in my arms as well as the child demon detaching from his siblings and following, his hand reaching up to hold onto the girl's toes. I paused for the sister. "Girl." I barked back the order. She snapped out of it and raced to follow us.

Inside, I barked an order to prepare one of my rooms for the sister. I knew where the girl in my arms belonged. I had prepared the room just months before on an urge. The servants rushed ahead, and the child demon babbled in English to Usagi like she was awake and could hear him while I walked slowly towards my rooms. The rabbits following us were slow, but Usagi liked them so I would keep them with her no matter the cost.

I left the sister with a servant and a look and headed deeper into my series of rooms. My room was in the back, and I moved towards it. The girl would grow, and I knew unless I could find how to keep her alive, I would take no mate until she was gone. It seemed reasonable enough to keep the small woman-child where I could better protect her, in the room attached to mine meant for my mate. It was impossible to reach without destroying walls or without going through my room, and thus, I would be able to protect the person inside. It was a common way to protect a female mate in a castle, and off of the female's room were the rooms for pups. Pups were to be highly protected, and the chances of both a father and mother failing before guards could arrive were very slim.

I brushed into the attaching room and laid her carefully on the bed. It was meant for the future Lady of the West, and thus plush and filled with many feathers. The small girl was dwarfed by the size of the bed, and she hardly made an indentation in it.

The rabbit demon scooped all the little rabbits on the bed, and they sat in a row watching the girl. I was not completely sure how to use the juice in the plant, but the rabbit demon seemed to know what he was doing and jumped on the bed to be able to reach the plant in my hands. He broke off a chunk and squeezed a line of juice down Usagi's arm. I placed the plant down and mimicked his actions on her other arm, then rubbed the juice softly into the blistered skin on her arm. The small rabbit demon did her left side, and I did her right and then her face. The smell was strong, but the smell of the burnt flesh died as it was absorbed into her skin. When we finished, the child rabbit demon picked up Usagi's hand and held it. He babbled away in English again to her, and she laid there breathing easy.

"Son." I turned to the sound of my father's voice, and he was fuming mad judging by the fang peeking out of his lip. It raised my hackles to have a male so angry so close to the girl I decided to keep and judging by the soft growl from the rabbit demon child; the child was upset by it too. My father took several steps into the room, and I watched him carefully, angry he would enter the room that custom said he needed my permission to enter. He picked up Usagi's hand that was holding the jewel and started to pry it open. I knew I was growling, but my father didn't seem to notice. The rabbit demon growled as well. When Usagi's grip didn't lessen, my father gripped her wrist tightly. The sound of her bones protesting was too much, and my eyes bled red.

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Author's Note: Uh-oh, angry Sesshomaru! What will happen? Next chapter in just a few minutes! I wouldn't give you a cliffy like that, at least today I won't!


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Right, back quick as I could. Very short chapter, but for now, all Inu no Taisho POV chapters will be short. I honestly think this is the only one for a while as I don't think in editing I'll add another.

Thanks GreyWolfy21 for helping out! I'll keep it short as I want to get the next chapter up for you quickly.

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I did not expect the speed my son showed flying at me, nor a child demon to attack. I could not harm the child demon, but I blocked my son and threw him off me. He was nearly a blur as he flew at me again, and the child demon was biting into my leg and wrapped around it slightly restricting my movement. Sesshomaru's eyes were red, and it pissed me off beyond how pissed I already was.

"The hell is wrong with you?" I growled at him, throwing him off the third time. He was stronger than I thought and pushed me back away from the human with each attack. After the fifth attack, he stood between the human and me, growling and taking a protective stance. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood up. He was acting like a mate protecting his injured woman, and it rubbed the wrong way for far too many reasons.

I flicked my leg, throwing the child demon off and towards my son, then backed slowly from the room. When I was out of the room, I kept moving so that I was a distance from the doorway but could still see into the room. Sesshomaru did not indicate that he was backing down or would trust me. The child demon hopped up on the bed and stood protectively in front of the human as well. "The fuck is going on?" I asked out loud.

Inu Kimi walked slowly into the room and in sight of the door. She looked at Sesshomaru and gave a soft whine. His eye darted towards his mother, but then back to me.

"Sesshomaru," she said softly and held up the bundle in her arms that I didn't notice. He looked at her briefly, then back at me. "I have bandages for her. May I come to give them to you?" He looked at her again as if trying to decide if she was a threat. "Sesshomaru, she is bleeding and needs the bandages." I could see his nose working, trying to determine if Inu Kimi was safe. After several moments, he nodded, and she stepped forward. When she was in the room, she shut the door behind her, blocking Sesshomaru's view from me.

After several attempts to talk to him, Inu Kimi managed to get Sesshomaru to talk. Trusting him now that he was talking, I moved towards the desk in the other room to sit down and think what a human was doing with such a powerful gem, and why Sesshomaru defended a human as he did.

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Author's Note: Whew! Bones saved! Inu Kimi joined the fray as well! What shall she add, our current Lady of The West? And what will Inu no Taisho do? Why the hatred for Usagi? When will I reveal the truth behind the human hating that we know won't always exist? So many secrets are hidden in the past, aren't they?

Next chapter in a bit! Getting it ready!


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: Last update of the day, as I have a powerful writing bug biting at me. I must itch at that bug!

Thanks GreyWolfy21 for putting up with me another day and another three chapters! Let me know if you are enjoying my story so far.

Sesshomaru will now play partial-host to the diplomat. Walking a fine line with half-spoken answers and hidden meanings is a challenge, is he up to it being so young? Read on and find out!

* * *

I didn't trust my mother completely. She was careful with Usagi, but Usagi's eye twitched slightly. She pushed me behind the screen so that she could change Usagi's clothes, and then she pulled me back out. I was pleased that my mother understood that she was important and to dress her as such and gave my mother a bit more trust. She pet Usagi's head then turned to me with a smile.

"She is a cute child. I see her appeal." I bit back a growl at calling her a child. My mother bent and sniffed the girl, then stood back up. "Your father, though, that was rude for you to do Sesshomaru. You blindsided him, bringing a human back and proclaiming her of such importance to the West without telling your father a word. You put him in a difficult position, you know." I gave a slight nod of my head to acknowledge her words but would give no apology for my actions. My mother sighed. "I will talk to him. You know how he feels about humans."

"Should she be trained, then father would be proud to stand next to her on a battlefield." I could tell that was the wrong thing to say with the way my mother visibly bristled.

She sighed and pet Usagi again then came and patted my shoulder. Turning, my mother held out a hand for the rabbit child. He looked unsure at my mother, clearly torn. After a moment, he clung to Usagi and laid next to her. She gave a light tut at him, then turned back to me. "Come Sesshomaru; we shall talk to your father after dinner. We will be late, and you need to change." Nodding an understanding, I glanced back at the rabbit.

The little demon child lightly was snoring, having fallen asleep near instantly after he laid down pressed against Usagi's side. I closed the door to the room behind me as we left, putting up a barrier with as much strength I could manage. Very few people would be able to break such with its strength and the details to allow her sister's energy and the rabbit children through. Satisfied, I changed my clothes. Mother sat down on my bed and patted the spot next to her. I sat there, and she started running a brush through my hair. I hated such a thing, but my father warned me I should allow my mother to do this since it calmed my mother. In two years she would no longer be allowed to do such in inu laws, so I decided to put up with it just a bit longer despite my hate of it. After several dozen strokes of the brush, she squeezed my shoulder and got up. I followed her from the room, and as we got close to the dining room, I tucked her hand in the crook of my elbow. They presented my mother at the door, then presented myself, and I led her in. I placed her next to my father at the table, kissed her cheek and put her hand on my father's hand, and then sat next to her.

The rabbit diplomat smiled at me. "I understand you can tell me more about that woman you brought with you. My son seemed to be attached to her, and I'm sorry for the trouble he caused."

I could see the landmine in the sentence and took a sip of my wine as he finished to give myself a moment to think and show my power in this conversation. "Her name is Usagi, and she was the one who found your son."

The demon laughed a light note. "Imagine that! Her name is Rabbit?"

I gave a nod to confirm. "She was very insistent, talking to him in English often. She carried the rabbits she called Netherland Dwarf Rabbits and walked slowly so that the Lops could keep up, refusing to leave a single one behind."

This time the demon nodded. "Then, I can see why my son was so attached. He is the runt and last-born. He is in charge of raising the gift rabbits. He ran away after I told him several days ago to prepare your gift rabbits. The demons in the South snapped all the necks of the rabbits we gifted them in front of my son, and as he is so young, he was frightened for the rabbits. He took great care in raising the rabbits for our trip, and I'm afraid we won't have many dealings with those demons. Where is my son if I may ask? And how is Usagi?"

"He fell asleep next to her, refusing to leave her side when my mother called for him to come to dinner. He aided in putting the liquid from the plant on her, and I am grateful for his help. Usagi seemed more peaceful once we put the plant on her, so I am also grateful for this."

A small child rabbit ran up to her father, tugged his arm, and he bent down to hear her whispers. After a moment he laughed, then nodded and gave her a slight push towards my father. She bounced up to him, bowed, then tugged at his pant leg. He bent and listened to her, smiled, and gave a booming laugh.

"You have a wise daughter," he told the diplomat as he pat her head. "Yes, young one, you may instruct the cook how you please. I expect to be able to taste this too?" She nodded and bounced off quickly. My father turned to my mother with a smile. "The young one said there is a sweet dish she makes as thanks for things, and she wishes to thank our son for bringing her brother back. She was asking permission to use the kitchen to make such a dish."

"How wonderful of her!" my mother said happily, then turned towards the diplomat. "Do you think she would like my help?"

"She has made that dish for many years. You do not need to trouble yourself, my lady," he said with a slight bow. My mother nodded and took another bite of her food.

Several moments later, a dozen of the rabbit children raced through the room toward the kitchen squealing and laughing. "Young ones are a blessing," my father said with a happy smile on his face.

The rabbit nodded. "They are my pride and joy. They are a handful to travel with without their mother, bless her soul in heaven, but they seem to know when I've had enough to give me a break. They are smart and picking up their jobs quickly."

The conversation was deceivingly light, hidden meanings popping up every so often. After about half an hour as dinner was winding down, three rabbit children popped out with bowls in their hands. The girl from before came and put her bowl in front of me, then climbed up and kissed my cheek. She climbed down again and raced back to the kitchen. It was odd she did not stay to see how I liked what she made, but it smelled sweet. I looked at the carrots in some liquid and picked one up to taste it. My father had already lifted his bowl and was quickly eating it, clearly enjoying it. When I tasted the carrot, I could see why.

The carrots were sweet, in an almost painful way. They were soft and turned to mush in my mouth in a pleasing way, and I wasn't required to chew. This left me to mush the carrot with my tongue and doing so, against my taste buds. It lingered between bites and made you crave more. I briefly wondered what it would be like to harden the juices sticking to the carrots to save as a snack while patrolling. I assumed that Usagi would rather enjoy the dish and would have to try and ask the rabbit child how to make this. The cook might know as well if he helped. It was sweet, but still not overly heavy and it didn't sit in my stomach as many other sweets did.

I had two more carrots before all the rabbit children burst out of the kitchen and raced out of the room talking quickly.

"This is fucking amazing! Your daughter can cook like this? The hell did she learn to do that?" My father was excited and swiped one of my mother's carrots. She gave him a look, and he laughed.

The plates were cleared by the servants, and I knew I was to leave now. I asked to be excused and kissed my mother's cheek on the way out.

The hall was strangely devoid of servants on the way back to my rooms. When I got there, the door was open. I left it closed, but my one servant usually forgot to close it no matter how many times I warned her. I stepped inside and froze.

Most of the servants in the castle were in my room, as close as they dared to my private room. They all were hardly breathing and straining towards my rooms. I could faintly hear singing, and it was even more heavenly than the laugh Usagi gave earlier. It was sad sounding but so beautiful I was sure she could stop hearts with the singing. It was in English, and I slowly made my way forward.

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Author's Note: That's it today darling readers. I must go scratch at this bug now. As long as GreyWolfy21 is willing, we will have another chapter or two tomorrow depending on size and word-count.

What is Usagi singing? I will have to find a way to get you a playlist soon... Maybe GreyWolfy21 can help with that! I will have to ask.

Also, hello lovely Lady Mia! Nice to meet you, my Lady. I'm glad you are enjoying this story.

I am sorry for whoever else I can't name. My inbox has still yet to send me your name, but I am glad you are here! Please send me a PM so I can say hello properly, I don't want to be rude!

I will see you all tomorrow if we are able to! I may take a day with GreyWolfy21 to get you all a playlist.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Where to start with my bad two weeks? First off, I'm sorry I was gone so long. My computer power cord died, and it was very hard to get to my parents house and find the spare cord. When I finally did, I had to start trying to get things edited. I had some writing bugs, and then I had to try and get up with my beta. After that, my family had an accident. I live in the States right now in the middle of nowhere. The power went out, and there was an accident with the power out... We ended up losing eight family members because of the accident, so it was back and forth to funerals. I was about to post a few days ago, and then my computer was attacked with Ransomware. It copied and stole all my files. The phone number on the computer was my old cellphone, I recently changed carriers, and I finally got a phone call on my home phone demanding $1,000 USD for my files. I told the man I hardly made my bills a month, there was no spare money to collect my files. He in turn demanded $500. I told him that was more than almost all my bills were for the month, I maybe had $20 to spare for them, but they all were recently backed up anyways. He proceeded to hang up.

So, for the past two days I had to reset my computer and start to rebuild programs and the likes. I have yet to get Word even back on my computer yet, but I thought that I would get some stuff up for now anyways.

Sorry for the delay. I'll get a few up in the next little bit. Thanks!

* * *

I woke to a bunch of children crowding around me, staring at me. There were so many. I did a quick headcount and came up with just shy of fifteen. They all looked like siblings if not all the same age they had to be close, and they even wore the same style clothes in the same colors. I could hardly tell one from another besides the auburn highlighted brown hair in slightly different styles or green eyes that all had slightly different shading. One was smaller than the rest and practically was in my face, a boy, and his eyes were half-lidded like mine and his hair tied back and messy to show the tiniest of points to his ears. When I looked at him, his eyes went wide like mine, partial in shock I assumed. I sort of understand why Souta likes to shock me now. His eyes were expressive and completely adorable. I still felt cooked, but less so. I smiled at the children and greeted them, and they all started babbling in English, which surprised me. I answered their questions, and the smallest of the boys was clinging to me. I had no idea where I was, or if I was awake even.

A girl appeared with a bowl and a dozen more children that I would have to try a new headcount. Just as I counted twenty-five, she pushed through and handed the bowl to me. I smiled and looked down, and my eyes went wide. "Candied carrots!" I cried happily and picked the girl up and hugged her. "Did you make them with brown sugar or honey?"

"Brown sugar," the girl said softly blushing. "You know what they are?"

"Yes, they are one of my favorite dishes actually!" I was nearly bouncing in excitement and happily started to eat them. The girl beamed when I moaned in delight at their taste, and then all the children started babbling again, asking questions about food dishes. I ate between questions, having had to promise to make several dishes over the next few days. The little one at my side tugged my sleeve and looked at me. "Yes, sweetheart?"

"Can you make the little cakes?"

"Which little cakes?"

He shuffled side to side, and all the children fell quiet. "The ones in the pan over the fire."

I smiled. "They are round and form little bubbles on top while they cook, then you flip them over to cook the bubbly side?" All the children stared with super-wide eyes at me, and I smiled. "I call them pancakes. Should we take a vote if we should make pancakes tomorrow morning?" There was no need for a vote; every last child scampered onto the bed and tried to cling to me with puppy dog eyes. "Alright, if we have everything we can make them." Two of the girls cried first; then within moments, every child was crying. I had no idea why. I assumed that they liked pancakes, but their faces kept going between happy and sad plus hurt. It didn't make sense, but it was so like my past, and they were just the right size that my past instincts kicked in, but for once, it wasn't as bad as before.

I tutted at them, then started to sing softly. It took no time at all for the children to fall quiet and listen, and after a short while of singing, every child was laying in heap half on top of me with closed eyes. I knew not all of them were asleep, but it wouldn't be long before they were. The smallest boy was cuddled to my chest and opened his eyes, nuzzled my neck, and kissed my cheek, then cuddled back down.

Even when the children were asleep, I kept singing for them. I looked up as Sesshomaru walked into the room, never faltering in my song, and smiled while singing. He walked up to the bed I was on and tilted his head towards me as he crouched next to the bed. After a short while, he sat with his back to the bed and put his head back to rest on the mattress. Without looking, he reached a hand up and pushed a slightly falling child back safely, then pet their head till the child sighed and snuggled back down.

I lifted my hand and slowly stroked Sesshomaru's hair, and he probably didn't notice, but he leaned into my touch. I kept singing the whole time, and Sesshomaru sat there. I don't know how long we sat like that, but at the first sign of my voice starting to fail, he reached up and put his fingers over my mouth. I stopped singing and smiled against his hand. He stood and ran his fingers through my hair, gave me a nod, and silently left the room. There was the soft sound of covers being moved in the room next to mine, and I assumed he went to lay down. It was comforting to know he was close, and I closed my eyes as well.

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There is the first, the second for today should be up shortly.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: TRIGGER TRIGGER ALERT!

Hello lovely and kind readers, there is a trigger alert in here yet again. We will have several over the next few chapters, but then it will calm for a few. Keeping it real, I have to in order to stay true to this piece, so it gets a bit dark in places. Don't worry, it isn't too bad. We go very dark later on, but this is minor compared to some of it.

I'll keeping working on updates while you read, don't worry!

Enjoy!

* * *

Little hands pressed into me, whispers sounded in my ears, and I slowly opened my eyes to many little faces looking at me. I gave a soft yawn and stretch, then smiled at them. "Good morning."

They all tried to hug me at once, and I wrapped my arms as far as they could go around them. I didn't count how many there were, but there had to be two dozen or more still in bed with me. They looked too alike for me to get an accurate count, and they all were wiggling so much that it made it difficult. They looked at me expectantly after the hug, and I got the feeling all twenty-five had stayed with me all night despite not being able to count easily. It was too early for math anyways.

They all tried to hug me at once, and I wrapped my arms as far as they could go around them. I didn't count how many there were, but there had to be two dozen or more. They looked at me expectantly after the hug.

"If it is morning, that means we should be making pancakes, right?"

Every little eye popped open in wonder, and they scrambled up. The littlest didn't try to get up and tried to push me back on the bed. "No!" he said angrily.

"What's wrong, dearheart?" I asked him in confusion.

"You gotta put your medicine on!" he demanded, and all the children gasped and scrambled back on the bed with an aloe plant. They didn't let me do a thing, spreading aloe on my burned body and then waited for it to be fully absorbed before they let me stand up. Then the littlest one opened my kimono and went to work on the spot the jewel came out of me. I bent and hugged each one, saving the smallest for last.

"Aren't you the sweetest little thing," I told him and kissed his head. He beamed at me, then grabbed my hand as I stood with a giant smile on his face. "Now that I've been properly taken care of by some wonderful children, I think pancakes are in order!"

I led the way out but had no idea where I was going. The children stayed behind me as I walked through the rooms, and as I passed a room, I spotted silver hair. I stopped and ducked my head in, the children close by my side.

Sesshomaru looked up from the scroll in his hands at me. "Good morning, Sesshomaru," I told him brightly. The children chorused my good morning in Japanese with a slight bow to him. He nodded at us, and I left the children at the door to see what he was working on. I rounded the desk and looked at his scroll and gave a happy giggle at the markings on the paper in front of him trying to figure out the puzzle. "Having trouble?"

"It is proving a slight challenge," he said with a stoic face. I carefully plucked the scroll from him and looked it over. He waited patiently, probably waiting for me to tell him it looked pretty since he thought I couldn't read. I dipped the brush in ink, wrote the rules for the puzzle down, then solved it for him. He stared wide-eyed at how fast I read and finished the puzzle, and I nearly broke down, laughing at his expression. He picked up the paper I wrote on, took the scroll from me, and pat my head. Then he raced from the room.

I laughed and gave a wave for the children to come close. "Let me tell you something now. Not all women are dumb. Some women are really smart. Just like some men are dumb, and some are really smart. It is never a bad thing that someone helps you solve something you need to be solved; it just proves you were smart enough to have the right people around to help you. Being wise is not always about being smart in the head but being smart in the heart too." The children looked up in wonder at me. I smiled and tilted my head to the side. "Now who is going to be the one to lead me to the kitchens?" They all shouted that they wanted to be the one and grabbed hold of the bottom of my kimono and started dragging me forward. I happily followed through the halls, passing some people as we went. They bowed low to me and greeted me, some more pleasant than others. I smiled and wished them a good morning as we went by. They seemed shocked by this each time.

The girl who brought the candied carrots seemed to lead the way, and she pushed happily into a large kitchen. She said hello to a man in the kitchen.

"Good morning!" I told him brightly.

He bowed deeply to me. "Good morning, my lady. What would you like me to make for you?"

I giggled happily. "You don't have to make a thing! I promised some pancakes for the children, so if I could use the kitchen and you could point me to some of the ingredients I need, I would be very grateful."

He looked confused and like he wanted to argue, but then he helped me gather what I needed. "What are "pancakes" my lady? I would like to see how you make them if I could."

"They are like little cakes cooked on a hot pan over the fire," I told him, and he nodded. I eyeballed the ingredients for measurements and started mixing. The children watched in delight, and the cook watched extra carefully as I explained. I spooned the batter into as many pancakes fit on one pan, and a giant pan it was, and turned to the children and switched to English. "Alright, there are enough that each of you can have two to start with. I'm going to need to see you with some plates in hand, ready to go!"

The children scrambled to grab plates, and then lined up happily. I flipped each pancake carefully, explaining to the cook how I knew they were ready to flip. I hummed happily and then started plating the pancakes to each child. They all waited to be served, then looked at me expectantly. I passed the syrup around, still in surprise that the kitchen had syrup, and then they still waited for me. "Go sit out in the other room and eat you little silly children! You don't need me to tell you to eat what you all are drooling to eat."

They scampered out of the room, and I plated the last two pancakes of the batch for the cook and handed them over. He stuttered and tried to refuse. "Cook, how are you to know you made it right when you make this yourself if you don't know what it is supposed to taste like when you make it right?" He seemed to see my logic and bowed over and over. I set up the next batch slightly better on the pan while he sat and ate the pancakes so that I had four extra.

There were shouts of good morning in the dining room, then pounding feet and a man burst into the kitchen. Cook stood and bowed to him, but the man only stared at me. I stared back at him several moments. His hair was brown, without the highlights, but his clothing was similar to the children and not quite right for Japan. It was an attempt, but the children's clothes were slightly more correct than his. I likened it to a foreigner coming to Japan and trying to act Japanese and failing. It would explain the English that the children were fluent in if they were related somehow.

After looking a bit more at him, I realized his eyes were purple, not green. It was an odd color, one I had yet to really see. Then again, Sesshomaru's eyes weren't as normal either. Actually, his eyes were their own color on the spectrum and couldn't match even gemstones. I'd seen kids cosplay before wearing colored lenses, but this was entirely different. The skin tone of the man matched the children, and they all seemed to have the same shape to their ears with a slight point, not nearly as pronounced as Sesshomaru's pointed ones. His hair matched the one boy's hair which was tied an elaborately done with twists in it, and I assumed he must be related somehow to the children. He was built, then again I had yet to see a demon who wasn't, but it wasn't nearly as built as any other demon I had seen. Either it was all very lean muscles, or it might compare to someone who worked out only enough to stay thin and slightly fit instead of building lots of muscles. He seemed to unfreeze, and I looked away in fear of being rude anymore than how rude I already was to stare so long.

He moved over to me slowly, picked up a lock of my hair, and took a deep sniff of it. He didn't seem satisfied, then buried his face in my neck and sniffed. I stiffened. "Good morning," I said in English. He pulled back and stared at me. "If you don't let me go, I'll burn the pancakes for the children." He backed away from me instantly and looked at the pancakes. I flipped them and called out to the children for round two. They raced back in with their plates but stood behind the man waiting. One of the children held out a plate to him, and he seemed like a robot. I smiled at him and placed three pancakes on his plate. He moved out of the line and to the syrup, hardly taking his eyes off me.

Once all the children had pancakes and syrup, I turned to ask if I could take the last three and take a few minutes to eat them, but everyone was staring at me and the words caught in my throat and nerves bubbled up.

The smallest of the children put his plate down and came and tugged my kimono. "You eat too. We can wait." I smiled and ruffled his hair, then took a plate from one of the girls and put my pancakes on it. Another boy handed me the syrup. They turned to look at the man, and he nodded his head towards the other room and the table.

I followed, and the children filled every seat, except the two to the right of the head of the table and the head of the table. The man pulled out a chair for me and pushed me into the second chair from the head of the table on the left, then sat. He started to eat, but the children didn't until I took a bite. I had no idea what was going on or who the man was, but he seemed important.

The children talked softly, but the man kept staring at me. Finally, he said softly, "Little Bunny?"

I smiled at him, and he dropped his fork. The whole table fell quiet and stared at us. The smallest boy sat next to me and took my hand and nuzzled his cheek into it.

A man with silver hair in a ponytail walked in the room, and all heads turned to him except the man next to me. The children bowed their heads and said good morning in Japanese. A woman was at the silver-haired man's side, trying to hold on to his arm. He shook her off and stormed up to me, yanking my chair out and throwing me from it. I quietly got up from the floor, making not a sound. Part of me was bracing for what I was used to coming after being thrown into something so forcefully.

"A human will not sit at my table!" he thundered angrily. He took two steps toward me, and I held my ground. Running makes it worse. Running makes it more painful. "I don't give a fuck what my son sees in you! You are a spy!" I stared at him, and lightning-quick he had me by my hair. "You stupid wench! You don't even deny it!" Talking without being told too means gagging. I held my tongue.

I made no sound as he threw me into a wall by my hair, ripping some of it out. I stayed down for a moment, assessing the damage, then sat up. The children were crying at the table, but a form stood protectively in front of me. The man from the table blocked me from the view of one pissed off Inu no Taisho. "Enough." He sounded calm, but I was terrified even if I didn't let it show.

"You protect spies on the mainlands?"

"No. There is some misunderstanding."

"The fuck did I misunderstand? The part where she took a coded message from the North and figured it out in ten seconds when we've been working on it a week?"

The man in front of me bristled but stood his ground in front of me. "No, we misunderstood that this is my mate's reincarnation."

Inu no Taisho stared at the man hard. "How do you know that shit suddenly now when you saw her yesterday? Do you take me for an idiot? Plus, she is a filthy human!"

The woman who had held on to his arm before came and grabbed his arm again as he moved to strike the man in front of me. He glared at her, and she glared back. "You will not disrespect my mate in front of me. We are done here." The man turned towards the children and switched to English. "Get up children. You do not sit at the table of a demon who would harm and disrespect your mother." Instantly the children were up from the table. "Get your things. We are going home." The children raced from the room, and the man in front of me didn't look away from Inu no Taisho as he bent and scooped me into his arms, then walked from the room.

I had no idea what was going on, only that a strange man carried me swiftly through corridors and placed me on a bed in a room. He packed a bag, barking orders at some people, and then handed the bag over to one of them before picking me up again. He swiftly walked from the room, and the children all stuck close to him as he walked out the front door. At the gate, several armed guards stopped us. The man held to me tightly and growled at the guards. "Are you going to prevent a diplomat from leaving? That is asking for war."

The guards shuffled, then turned their eyes on me. "You and your children may go. She stays."

He swiftly walked from the room, and the children all stuck close to him as he walked out the front door. At the gate, several armed guards stopped us. The man held to me tightly and growled at the guards. "Are you going to prevent a diplomat from leaving? That is asking for war."

The guards shuffled, then turned their eyes on me. "You and your children may go. She stays."

The man held tightly to me. "Are you going to prevent the mate of a diplomat from leaving? You'd better go inform your lord that my lord will have his troops in The West before the end of the week and start sharpening your weapons." The guards shuffled even more nervously, but once one backed down, they all quickly did. The man carried me and kept an eye that all the children stuck close, as well as the several people he had barked at earlier, followed close behind.

I was very confused. I had no idea where Sesshomaru was, or Kagome for that matter. I tried to pull free, but the man clung to me tightly. "I'll put you down when we get far enough away. I don't trust that dog." He stroked my hair as if to reassure me, walking swiftly forward.

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Author's Note: There you have it! Working on the next, typing away.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note: Third of the day! What? Do you assume that's all that I'll give you after being gone so long? Think again! There still is more done ready to post! Get ready, I'm working on it right now!

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Usagi's sister put up no challenge when I explained softly and quickly; I had to get her out of the castle. She didn't ask for details, just that we were going to go after her sister and that they both were in danger. I didn't promise protection for her, but she trusted me completely as I got her out without a scratch. Usagi's scent was forever etched into my mind, and I circled and chased after her. I didn't care that my father thought she was a spy. I could smell Usagi the whole time she solved the coded message. There was no way she was a spy with the scents she let out, but my father didn't trust my judgment. I scooped up the older sister and threw her on my back, then ran, trying to catch the quickly moving rabbits. The sister seemed used to the travel method, and I briefly wondered how since she was not nearly as light as her sister. I pushed the useless thought from my mind.

The closer I got, the quicker the rabbits moved. The father had to be pushing the children very hard to keep the pace. But it was clear when the children were losing energy as the pace rapidly slowed until they stopped. I slowly walked up to them, pulling the older sister from my back. Usagi lit up seeing her sister and tried to struggle free from the grip of the rabbit demon, calling out to her sister. The demon stared at Usagi, asked a question in English, and she quickly responded.

"Give us the girl," he called out to me. I tilted my head to the side and held up my hands. This seemed to confuse the rabbit demon. "What are you playing at?"

"This Sesshomaru plays nothing. Usagi is not a spy; this one would have smelled it in her scent when she was deciphering the code."

The rabbit demon whispered to Usagi, too soft for even my ears to fully hear, and it was in English. She responded to him quickly, pointing and waving her hands. He slowly put her on her feet but held on to her hand and walked slowly towards us. He was not prepared for her strength when she pulled away and clung to her sister tightly.

Usagi was close enough that I could smell the small amount of blood on her scalp. I reached for her and pulled her from her sister, parting her hair to assess the damage my father had done. The rabbit demon growled, but I ignored him. Usagi had a massive amount of hair, silky to the touch, but I could pinpoint every hair torn from her head by the tiny droplet of clotted blood at each spot. I growled low, trying to determine where I could keep her protected and rip into my father. I would not win, but I would not let him get away with harming her. I tugged the shoulders of her kimono down slightly, and the rabbit demon snarled. Her shoulder was already starting to bruise, probably from how she landed from when my father threw her. I tugged the kimono back into place and dropped my head to her undamaged shoulder.

I could care less what the rabbit demon thought of the gesture. I stayed with my head on her shoulder and gave a soft whimper, angry at myself for my failure. Hardly having decided to protect her, I failed her. She nuzzled her cheek against the top of my head and softly ran her fingers along my shoulder.

"I'm okay, Sesshomaru," she told me softly. "The only time you could fail is if I were dead. I will always heal in time." She forgave too easily. I clung to her arms, trying to get a grip on my guilt and shame. She moved her hands against my shoulders and gave a slight push, and I reluctantly let her push me up. I didn't get fully standing when she crashed into my chest, wrapping her arms around me tightly and hiding her face in my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and put my nose in her hair, taking a deep breath and trying not to smell the blood but just her wonderful scent. I felt her very tiny shakes and held her tighter to my chest.

"This Sesshomaru will not fail you again," I vowed to her. She nodded against my chest and clung even tighter, and then I scooped her up as she went limp against me. I held her in one arm while the other quickly removed the tiniest bits of tears from the corners of her eyes. I put the salty liquid against my tongue and closed my eyes, etching my failure into my mind so I would never forget it and always do better by this wisp of a woman who trusted and forgave me too easily. My father would pay, not now, but when Usagi was safe, he would pay.

The sister glanced behind us and then glanced at her sister. "What happened?" she asked me. I didn't respond. Just started forward and away from the danger that was my father. She turned her questions to the rabbit demon as they followed us, and he asked if she spoke English. They spoke softly and slowly as they followed me, the children in the middle of us. Even though it was simple enough, the English was mostly beyond me even so close, slow, and simply spoken. Several times the children moved forward to touch Usagi, and I slowed to let them. They clearly were attached to her, and she seemed fond of them. I would not deny her access to anything she wanted if I could give it to her in any way. I owed her that.

One of the rabbits would not touch her, the smallest of them and the one she had found in the woods. I could smell his shame, and it was so strong it gave me a slight headache. I turned to him and bent down. "This Sesshomaru is to blame for Usagi's injuries," I told him, but he didn't seem to understand. I growled it in the demon tongue, and he started to cry loudly. His father and Usagi's sister rushed forward and tried to console him, but he refused their touch. He wailed something in English, and now I did have a headache. The sister picked him up and balanced him on her hip, trying to talk to him. I had no idea what he said, but the sister brought him up to me and put his hand on Usagi's chest. She talked slowly, clearly not speaking the language well. He hiccupped and sobbed, but he ran his hand over Usagi's stomach. Each time she took a breath, he calmed down a bit more. He didn't stop the tears, but the wailing stopped. He spoke to his father, and his father put a hand on his head and responded. The child nodded and looked back at Usagi. I plucked him from the sister and put him on my arm where he immediately put a hand on her stomach again to reassure himself; she was breathing. I moved forward again, and the sister stood next to me as we walked.

After several minutes, she started talking to me. "You had no way to know. Neither did she. Usagi is always trying to help, so she probably thought she was helping you. We had no idea your father would react that way." I raised an eyebrow at her, but she kept going. "Usagi had a hard start to life. She always tries to do things like cleaning and dishes and panics if you make her stop like she is going to be punished. It is that horrible placed she lived at!" The sister was stomping as she walked.

"She did not live with you?"

The sister looked at me sadly. "Our younger brother found her, and we immediately got her out as fast as possible."

I hummed and looked at her. "How big is your family?"

She looked unsure about answering, but after a moment did. "It is just my mama, Usagi, our younger brother, and me. Grandpa died a few months ago."

I nodded, trying to think of a place large enough to protect all the rabbit children, their father, their servants, and the two other family members which I had to reach before my father found out about them. "Where is your home? Near the village with the well?"

The sister looked far off. "It is a long way away."

"We will need to get there before my father discovers your family."

She shook her head. "Your father will never find them. They are too far away." The girl obviously never had control of her mental facilities.

"My father would go anywhere on the planet to get revenge on someone who harmed him." The girl laughed and shook her head but said nothing. I would have to wait for Usagi to wake up and tell me.

My mind wandered, but I kept my senses sharp. I tried to think where best to hide such a large group. I had one person who could do such a thing, but it was a larger favor than he owed me. My mind tried to work through all the favors I was owed, trying to think of one worth the task I required. I was owed none of this size.

I switched to a new tactic. I tried to think of any species with the ability to do the tasks. There were not many who could do such a thing. I narrowed it down to three species strong enough and then tried to think of anyone who would need a grand favor performed that I could solve quickly enough and then turn around and request a favor back.

There was one mated pair that came to mind. One very cursed mated pair, running out of time. I would have to trust I was strong enough to break the curse by overpowering it, and then that the male was willing to do what I needed when I was recovering. I turned slightly, heading towards them.

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Author's Note: Like I said, I'm working on the next one! Enjoy until then!


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Note: TRIGGER TRIGGER WARNING!

Yes, again we go to trigger land with a trigger warning. This is darker than all the last, but this is the last for a while. It will be several more chapters before we go ahead and get to another trigger warning.

Poor Usagi, I have to keep you real. Enjoy my darlings!

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I had no idea where we were. Or where we were going. Or just about anything going on. But that was fine by me. I let Sesshomaru oversee all the details and relaxed against him. I would be overwhelmed if I didn't again. I hurt slightly, but I was fine enough to keep going. After some time, I heard Kagome ask where we were going in a tone of voice that said she was getting angry, probably since she asked it several times. There was an angry huff, and she was next to me, sucking in a big breath before she started to yell in her outdoor-sit-Inuyasha voice most likely. She had perfected that voice, and I don't think Sesshomaru would take kindly to that.

I had no idea where we were. Or where we were going. Or just about anything going on. But that was fine by me. I let Sesshomaru oversee all the details and relaxed against him. I would be overwhelmed if I didn't. I hurt slightly, but I was fine enough to keep going. After some time, I heard Kagome ask where we were going in a tone of voice that said she was getting angry, probably since she asked it several times. There was an angry huff, and she was next to me, sucking in her big breath before she started to yell.

"Kagome," I said and lifted my head. The air left her in a whoosh, and she grabbed my hand. I squeezed it. "Trust Sesshomaru," I told her softly, and she started to tear up. I squeezed her hand again, and she nodded, then fell back.

I glanced over Sesshomaru's shoulder at the children, all who had that look children get when they are determined but struggling. I had no idea where we were, but it could have been a very far walk for children. I squeezed Sesshomaru's shoulder, and he looked at me, and I nodded at the children. He slowed to a stop and turned in a circle, taking deep whiffs of the air. Satisfied, he sat down with me on his lap. "We will rest for a while." The children sighed in relief and sat down hard. Some of the other people who had been following us brought out water and food.

The man stared at me, and I could tell he was trying to will me to his side. I tried to pretend I couldn't feel his eyes. The smallest boy came up to me with some food and water. He had cried a great deal, and he held out the water to me first. I smiled and thanked him and took a sip of the water. He held out the food next. When the child was satisfied, I was taken care of, he sat next to Sesshomaru and watched me.

Kagome came over and asked in pig-Latin, switching between Japanese and English every other word if I was okay and to tell the truth. I smiled at her and answered that I honestly was. She stared at me hard, then shook her head.

"You're lying."

I could feel Sesshomaru tense, even if he didn't know what we said. "She smells of no lies," he told Kagome.

Kagome stared at him. "Then she didn't fully lie." She turned back to me. "You aren't singing," she said as if that proved she was telling the truth and I was lying. Sesshomaru tilted his head to the side and looked at me. I sighed and shrugged. "Face it Usagi. When you are truly okay, you sing some random song almost all the time. When you are upset, you sing slowly and cry. When you are devastated, you don't sing at all. You haven't been singing nearly as often as you do when you are okay." I tilted my head down, letting my hair cover my face. She was right. I was not fully as fine as I could be.

"Adventures aren't as fun as they sound," I told her softly.

"I know. They are a lot of pain and struggles. But you got to meet Sesshomaru, even if everything is messed up. There is no Sango or Miroku, no Kirara, no Kaede, but there is Sesshomaru." I smiled at her softly. "Your wish was to meet Sesshomaru remember? You weren't as interested in anyone else. Two of your five big questions were about him. Ask him the one I couldn't answer." I shook my head, unwilling to ask it.

A clawed finger pulled my head up, so I was looking at Sesshomaru. "This Sesshomaru would have wished to meet you too had this one known you existed. Ask your question."

It was too much. I was going to cry. A really big bawling cry like I hadn't done since I was a kid. I tried to blink away the tears, force the cry to go away and go to shut-down mode instead. My brain was halfway there; already it was shutting down because I was mixing the little kid me and adult me again. It was all just too much. I wanted to see it all, have an adventure that didn't hurt so much, and to take my mind somewhere I could have happy memories, but it was too much. I was too broken for this yet. Even if that paperwork had been true, I couldn't connect it realistically anymore. My question was moot because it wasn't real anymore. The timeline as we knew it was broken, so what made anything I wanted to ask real anymore? Everything went blurry, and a gasping sob broke through my defenses. I bit down on my tongue to keep the second one from escaping, but Sesshomaru ran his thumb across my cheek to remove the tears, and I couldn't keep the second one in. I felt the pressure of a clawed hand gripping my hip, the thumb rubbing circles.

"No matter how strong the person, a person is always going to have a weakness. The person then will have to rely on others to defend the weakness. The true strength is then tested, based on how strong a bond the person has created with those to defend the weakness." The arms around me tightened, and I knew the silent plea and his unspoken words. Not that I ever imagined Sesshomaru would say so many words, but I knew, somehow, I knew, he was going to be my strength, guarding my weakness while I cried it out. I didn't know why the great Killing Perfection was caring for me, a human, I was just grateful. He wasn't near as bad as everyone made him out to be. I was right. I bit my lip and let myself cry, still trying to be mindful of his ears.

I felt Kagome's hand rubbing circles on my back, and Sesshomaru's fingers combed rhythmically through my hair. "I'm sorry little sister," Kagome said softly. "I should have listened to you. You knew it was broken, and in my need to see everyone again," Kagome let out a deep sigh. "I'll find a way to get us out of this and get back home. Please forgive me, sweet little sister."

I didn't know if I wanted to go back. I didn't know if I really belonged anywhere anymore. Would everything I know just change when I got back? Would my memories be rewritten? I don't know anything anymore, and I know Kagome doesn't either. I can see the fear in her eyes. The way she was trying to heal me when she didn't even know what was broken, she'd run from me if she did, but scared for her own self at the same time. She wanted to help, but I might be the reason things do or don't happen, and she loses everything. I mess up everything everywhere I go, and something deep inside of me fears bearing scars mentally and physically to save someone else, even though I know I would take any and every one of them for Kagome. Kagome and her family made me happier than I'd been in years, so I'd give everything for that family if I had to, take it all with as much a smile as I could. I had to get Kagome home. I was so weak, but I'd get Kagome home or to where she belonged with Inuyasha, fix the well for her, I'd figure it out. I had to. Even if I didn't make it out, I'd make sure Kagome did. Like each kid I'd saved before, I'll take it, so they go on. Those kids were happy, all had families now, and not one would bare a single scar because I took it all on myself. Except for Tama-kun. I didn't save Tama-kun because I failed. I buried my face into Sesshomaru's shoulder and tried to muffle my tears as best I could. I wouldn't scream this time if it hurt, even if it was the worst hurt of all of them. I promised everyone there who I had to defend. I would not scream this time. I willed these tears to be the last audible ones, tried to force my body to accept that fact. I demanded in my mind, saying it over and over while I cried, just to try and imprint it to my body and mind. I would not scream. I would not scream. I would not scream.

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Author's Note: If you thought that I was going to leave you there, you were wrong! Why leave on such a sad note for the day? Nope, I still have more. Working on it as you read! Enjoy!


	17. Chapter 17

Author's Note: Hello! Back yet again today, and we are going to start meeting some new people! Hope you enjoy that. I'll be quiet, read away!

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The elder sister was lost in thought as she tugged along a few steps behind me. I held tightly to the girl in my arms, silent that she still held the jewel in her breast bindings. The sister had changed the dressing on her wounds, then the servants of the diplomat gave her something for the pain. She fell asleep shortly after taking medicine.

Now and again, different rabbit children would rush forward to check on the sleeping girl in my arms, but none as often as the runt, who every two kilometers checked on her without fail. I would lift the children, let them see her, and then put them down.

Usagi was far too easy to carry in one arm, and my arm never even gave a twinge in discomfort at her weight. She should have been heavier, weighed down by an expensive kimono and signs of being well-fed every meal. She wasn't, and it rubbed the wrong way slightly. She should be a well-cared-for lady, shown in everything about her. I would see to it.

We had traveled some distance, much closer to the land in the middle of the country where none of the lords fully were able to claim. At the edge of my father's territory, right before where this middle-land was, I would find the demon and his mate I was looking for.

But it seemed I wouldn't have to go that far. Several fox demons appeared at the top of the hill, twitched in their true forms, and bowed to me. I nodded my head at them, and one raced off. The others sped down the hill and popped out of their true forms and stared up at me. One of the females smiled brightly up at me.

"Hello Lord Sesshomaru! What do we owe the pleasure? I'm afraid my alpha female is not feeling very well today, but the alpha should be able to see you shortly." Her tail twitched back and forth, and it was slightly distracting.

"This Sesshomaru comes to ask a favor for a favor."

The foxes stilled, then twitched rapidly. The female bounced once. "I am sure everyone will be glad to hear of this, so long as it is something we can return." I caught the meaning in her words.

"It is something easily given by a fox demon." She smiled brightly at me and nodded. She turned towards one of the smaller foxes next to her and told him to have both alphas ready to greet us. They followed slightly behind me, some talking softly to the rabbits and the elder sister.

"Who is the beauty you carry Lord Sesshomaru?" the female asked with a smile. "She has shadows, but a big heart."

"What shadows can your fox eyes see?" I asked of her curious. It would do no good for me to spell out my curiosity in so many words. I made sure my eyes darted to the rabbits, and she caught the meaning I wanted her to catch, that it was to protect the demons, not the tiny woman in my arms.

She stared up at Usagi, then reached over and patted her hand. "Far too many. Abuse, death, pain, hope ripped away far too many times in a brutal way, battles hard-fought and few wars won, self-doubt, too many wishes unanswered, and missing love. Those are just what I can see. There is one too dark that even I can't see into. My alpha female has better eyes and may be able to tell you when she feels better. She wears her shadows well, but," she paused and jumped to Usagi's shoulder, putting a palm on her forehead. If the fox knew Usagi's importance to me, she wouldn't touch Usagi so freely. My intentions were hidden for now. "They are making her ill. She won't face the shadows. The shadows can overpower her wonderful and bright heart." The little fox pointed at her chest, towards the jewel. "I know not what that is doing with her. She should be rid of it. The whole world should be rid of it, but she should especially. It is eating at her. Don't let a bright light be snuffed out by that cursed thing." She hopped down and continued in silence.

I pondered what the fox demon said as I carried Usagi deeper into the fox lands. Foxes came out and joined up, some playing with the rabbit children. The runt would not be played with, refusing it all and checking on Usagi more frequently.

When we arrived at the den, I could smell the sweat and the power of the curse even from outside. I bent my form in and let myself be announced. I followed the little woman fox demon, and she then raced ahead, bowing to her alphas and talking quickly. The male demon I had in mind came forward slowly and bowed deeply.

"Lord Sesshomaru, I do not doubt your powers. I fear my mate does not have much time left before the curse kills her and out still-growing fox kit. I beg you to save my mate."

I nodded at him with respect. "In turn, this Sesshomaru will need your aid. This Sesshomaru needs to disguise and move the pack that follows this one a great distance quickly. This will be without this one's honorable father knowing."

I waited for the words to sink in, but it was a cough from his mate in the chair she was trying to sit straight in that sealed the deal quickly. "I understand Lord Sesshomaru. If I die, it means nothing so long as my mate and pup survive. You need to either speak the name of my pup or overpower the curse."

"You will sit," I told the ones behind me, and seeming to understand enough; they sat enough back not to interfere. I carefully tried to set Usagi next to her sister, but she grabbed hold of me in another death grip. I put my hand over her hand and lightly rubbed it, trying to coax her into letting go, but it woke her up instead. She gave an audible yawn, like a small pup, then blinked the sleep a bit from her eyes and smiled at me. But it turned to a frown, and she looked around. I could tell it was because it was dark by the way her pupils tried to adjust.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"You are in the fox den. Let this Sesshomaru do what is required."

She looked around and sat up. "Fox den? Why a fox den?"

I ran a hand over her cheek, and she turned back to me. "This one has the need to perform a favor for a favor."

Usagi smiled at me brightly. "I love doing favors! I want to help!" She bounced up before I could stop her and looked around. "Who needs the favor?"

The alpha fox answered before I could. "Young lady, it is myself and my mate who need the favor."

She turned to look at him, then where he swept his arm towards his mate. Her breath hitched, then came out fast and her eyes twinkled like she saw something she had longed to see. "Oh my, oh this is great!"

"Young lady?" the fox asked, confused.

She bent down next to him and shook his hand happily, almost shaking the whole smaller demon. "You don't know it yet, but someday, I will owe you so much! I can't thank you enough for what you've done. I'm so excited to meet you!" She dropped his hand and raced over to the alpha female. She smiled a smile that could have lit up the darkest night and bent down. "Oh my, is that who I think it is?" she said nodding happily at the female's stomach. The female tried to back up in slight fear and confusion. "May I?" she asked, holding up her hand. The female nodded, but I could tell it was part in fear. I was confused myself. Did she know the demons, and if so, why did they not know her? She acted like she knew them. Did she have the power of premonition? It wasn't unheard of to know hints of the future, but their accuracy was always in question.

Usagi placed a hand over the female's stomach and rubbed softly. "Hey little guy, you aren't probably aware of it, but I've been looking forward to meeting you. I wanted to meet you almost as much as I wanted to meet Sesshomaru." The female stared at Usagi and twitched in greater fear as Usagi put her forehead against her stomach. "So, you be strong, learn well. Someday, you are going to be a great warrior. You are going to be one of the key factors in saving the whole world. Everyone is going to know your name and shout it loud and proud. You'll hear them praise you so many times over, all because you are the glue that holds the group together, you are Shippou."

I caught Usagi as she was thrown back from the snap of the curse before she had gone very far, using a name I had never heard before. I held Usagi close to my chest, turning and taking the brunt of the multiple waves of the broken curse and trying to assess the damage she had received being so close to the snap. The little rabbits whimpered, but they were old enough and far enough away to handle it. When the waves subsided, I picked her up and started using my nose, trying to find how badly she was hurt. She pulled away from me instead. How she had known something like that was questionable, worse yet was that she knew of the kit's life. To know in such great detail was unheard of that I knew from a human seer. Demons had a slim chance, but I didn't think there would be a human seer who would know that much. Father would likely not be pleased to learn something like that.

"Wow what a rush! That was awesome!" I stared at her in disbelief. But the alpha male fox was already at his mate's side, patting her up and down. He put a hand on her stomach and the pup inside kicked forcefully. He gave a soft cry and buried his face in the hair of his mate, but I could already smell that the stench of death had left her. He clung to his mate tightly then turned and barked orders at stunned foxes coming from all over to check what had happened. When his mate had been taken to rest, he turned, and I could tell he was trying not to cry while looking at Usagi who just smiled at him. "So, what was the favor?"

He gave a soft, barking laugh and hugged her tightly. "Young lady, what is your name?"

"I'm Usagi, and you are Shippou's daddy!"

He beamed at her happily. "Shippou is a wonderful name." Usagi nodded, and he grabbed hold of her hand and kissed it. "Whatever I can do for you, at any time you need it, you just ask it, and I will see it done." There was a sudden loud rumble from her stomach with no warning. Her eyes went wide, showing off the beautiful green irises. "Yes, how rude of me. Bring the best food for our most honored guests! Spirits and music!"

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Author's Note: Would I leave you at the start of a party? Not today I won't! there is another one ready, but I believe that is all that is ready today for you. Wait for just a little bit and there will be the next chapter!


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Note: Alright, this is all that is edited for today. I may have more later, but right now I need to try and get this computer back up and running. If I get a chance, you'll get more today. But it most likely will be tomorrow.

Enjoy my sweet readers!

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The foxes were wise enough to ask me before serving Usagi anything. They were singing and dancing, and Usagi was avoiding drinking the spirits they brought out. I couldn't think why, but she happily sat by my side and ate bits of food while chatting happily with a few of the rabbit children as they came up. The runt was sitting in her lap, asking her all kinds of questions in English from the tone of what he was saying so softly despite the louder music. I could hardly hear what he was asking.

The sister was chatting slowly with the diploma and would laugh every time she was given a flower. Usagi also had a pile of flowers, and she was weaving them together. Several of the children wore creations from what she made of the flowers. It was endearing, and I decided that I would make a huge garden for her to weave as many flowers as she wanted. I also wore a creation, the first and most elaborate, which she somehow wound around my head and hair.

The fox alpha chatted with me about details of the favor I wanted, until he was interrupted by a young fox who asked about the new instrument they had received.

"Diplomat?" the alpha asked. The diplomat turned and nodded. "I have received from one of the kits in training on the mainland an instrument. It was supposed to make wonderful music, but I have yet to hear the wonderful music as it sounds horrible. The instructions we received to fix it were difficult to understand. Do you think you or one of your children might know how to fix it?"

"We could try. There are many instruments on the mainland though."

"Fair enough." The alpha nodded to the young kit who ran off. A short while later the kit came back with a strange-looking instrument.

There was a soft squeal next to me, and Usagi raced up to the kit and the instrument. "A guitar!"

The alpha gave a soft laugh. "I should have guessed the lady would know of it."

"May I?" Usagi asked the shaking kit. The kit nodded and handed it over. Usagi took it to a little chair and balanced it against her knee and plucked a note. With a frown, she hummed a sweet note until the guitar matched it, then started matching the note. When she was done, she strummed the guitar, and it did make a sweet sound. She ran her fingers over what was similar to a scale, then again with several strings played at once in a scale. "That's better. Kagome! Pick a song!"

The older sister smiled and tried to think of a song for a moment. "Something happy. Something simple to start, though. Make sure you are okay, you know?"

"Are you really going to make me play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?"

"Are you going to do the English version or Japanese one?"

"The mixed one," Usagi said with a smile and started plucking out a song. Her voice was sweet, and while the song was simple enough, it was adorable in its own way.

When she finished, the rabbit children were all sitting around her, staring. The runt smiled at her. "Play more?" he asked in Japanese. Usagi did as asked, playing each song twice, once in English and the second time in Japanese. They were simple but adorable, and the rabbit children seemed highly entertained. Glancing around, I saw the foxes were all keeping a close eye on her, despite trying to seem distracted by their conversations. Everyone had a tilt towards the slip of a human girl as she played, and the alpha of the foxes kept asking for the names of the songs as she went.

After the first rabbit yawned, there was a chain reaction of yawns. Usagi smiled at the children. "Bed," she told them softly. There were several whimpers and protests, and the volume grew. She gave a small giggle. "Did you think I wouldn't be singing you a lullaby?" The room quieted. Human lullabies were enchanting in their way, but demon ones were better simply because of the tones and length of time the tones went on. Only some of the most gifted singers of humans could sing a few demon lullabies correctly, and they were always snatched away to perform in demon gatherings. I was curious about what human song she would sing for a lullaby. I didn't know many, and even less from the mainlands which Usagi seemed to know many songs from.

But when Usagi opened her mouth, the whole room seemed to wince. The first notes of the demon lullaby from her mouth were perfect, but it was the hardest lullaby for a demon to master, and no human had ever been able to sing it correctly. The opening portion of the song was one of the longest to sing as well. Only some very talented demonesses could master the song in time for their first child, but usually by the third or fourth the number of demonesses able to sing it decently raised to eighty or ninety times that number. The power required made it impossible for humans to hold that amount of air.

I was sure she had some demon in her when she came to the end of the opening section, and she had sung it perfectly. That, or she was the rabbit's wife reincarnated. My head turned towards the female fox demon who instantly picked up the instrument part of the song while Usagi sang the first of the body portions of the song. Usagi picked up her guitar and played an accompaniment to the fox demon, still managing her strength and inhuman lung capabilities. When the flute picked up, the main instrument players of the fox den joined in. In the break of instrumentals, Usagi went and kissed each child as she laid them down with a hair ruffle before taking her seat again. When I was sure she wouldn't know the second half of the song, the verses, I opened my mouth to finish it for her. It was unheard of by any demon outside the canine variety to know the second half, let alone be able to sing it. The barks and whimpers used were too hard for most other demons, and not getting the words pronounced and said correctly while keeping up with the singing could be seen as insulting.

I saw the alpha of the fox den's jaw drop, and most the den did the same, as Usagi sang with the power of an inu bitch, a very skilled inu bitch at that, and then after the first verse, switched her voice to the fox warble and matched it perfectly. The third verse she switched to the wolf portion of the song. When she had finished, the rabbit children were asleep, but everyone else was wide awake.

"What are you?" the fox alpha said with a shake and twitch of his tail. I wondered the same thing, but in a different way. She was mine, but she couldn't be entirely human. I wondered what was mixed in her blood besides human, but I didn't care.

I did care when the alpha put his nose to the pulse on her wrist, and when he opened his mouth to bite, I didn't even register the snarl that left me until the whole room turned to look at me and quaked in fear. I was sure my eyes were red, that my more primal side was showing at her being touched without my permission.

"You're a bitch," the alpha said with shock. It filled me with pride to hear her be called a bitch instead of a doe. Despite her caring for the children, and the fact they did look similar and could have been her children with the diplomat if not for being full demons, the fox had picked up I had claimed the woman, and she was not to be touched. Thus he called her what she should be called, a mateable and pup-able female to an inu, and not to a rabbit. It did not fill Usagi with the same feeling. She tensed and backed away from the fox demon. She hadn't looked at me at all, and she looked scared. I didn't understand the fear. To be claimed so clearly by myself should have her happy. She would be comfortable for the rest of her life. Any demoness would be overjoyed at that I had chosen her that clearly and openly.

"Usagi!" Kagome called, standing moving towards her sister. Usagi backed away. "Usagi, think about what he said!" Usagi's eyes darted around, and towards the exit. I could see her legs tense. She was going to run. The sister was not helping. "Who is in the room?" Kagome tried again, but Usagi was up and running before she finished. The sister understood what it meant, so why had Usagi not understood?

I stood and stared hard at the sister. "This Sesshomaru will get her." I ducked out of the cave and went after the wisp of a girl. Usagi had made it some distance, but I could smell blood from where she lay on the ground. I bent over her, but she was curled in a ball on her side and unseeing despite staring out at the field of flowers. I ran a claw over her face to move the hair from her eyes while touching her hair as little as possible.

"Stay back," a soft voice warned. I turned to look at the alpha female, her eye blue with foxfire in them. "She is being eaten by shadows. It is not long before the cursed thing on her chest will react. I don't know how it will react."

I looked down at the small woman in her fetal position. "What shadows?"

The alpha female shuddered. "She will never accept being a bitch like she is. She won't accept a human male either."

I growled at her. "She reacts to this Sesshomaru," I started, but was cut off when I felt a painful pulse of energy. It was dark, and the scent of Usagi disappeared within the new smell she omitted. It turned my stomach in painful knots. It was a miasma from a spider demon, and Usagi shuddered. The female fox vomited, then backed up quickly as she could.

"It is that wretched jewel!" the fox alpha coughed out around a dry heave.

I yanked open Usagi's kimono and sliced through the first few strands of her breast binding, determined to remove the jewel and stop the scent of fear and pain that held faint traces of what I had begun to recognize was Usagi's scent. Her hand grabbed mine, trying to make me stop, and the miasma got stronger, and she cried out in pain.

"Usagi, give me the jewel," I commanded and turned her face towards mine with my other hand. Her eyes found mine, and for a second, the miasma stopped pouring from her. Then, it started again. "Usagi," I commanded again. Again, the miasma ceased then started. "Give this Sesshomaru the jewel."

Her eyes locked on mine but darted around my face after a few moments. The miasma slowed, then stopped. She took a deep breath and grabbed my hand, then started taking deep breaths. She squeezed my hand almost painfully, and I let her calm herself.

"Sesshomaru?"

"Hnn," I acknowledged. She shuddered, then was thrown several feet with a yelp and a bang. She was unconscious when I picked her up, but I tensed as a hand fell on my shoulder.

I turned towards the man, hackles raising. "So, we succeeded?" He looked at Usagi. "Yikes, I don't like that. Now we are going to be backward and forwards for years." He placed a hand on Usagi, and I gripped it with a snarl. "Calm down, just trying to help her for helping me." He put his other hand on her, and she glowed light blue for a moment, then opened her eyes. He smiled at her. "Hi, little one. I'm Kenji. Do you know what year you were born?"

She looked at the man, tried to close her kimono, and then tried to hide in my chest. I pulled her closer to me to help protect her modesty. "Who are you?" she asked, slightly scared.

"I'm Kenji, and my soul was trapped in that jewel. You released enough positive reki that it broke the topmost layer of it. Now tell me what year you were born." He tapped her shoulder, and the kimono repaired and tied itself.

Usagi looked at me. "I can't tell you. If you are asking that, you know something."

Kenji nodded. "You are a great distance from home then?" Usagi nodded. "More than one hundred?"

I didn't know if Usagi understood the question. It had no measurement attached to the number. "Try at least seven hundred." Kenji whistled. "My elder sister went once for five hundred, and now again with me for at least seven hundred."

"What do you mean once for five hundred? That should not have happened. One person, one trip. That is what we agreed on."

"The trip was back and forth several dozen times for two, and now I took a trip after it stopped working."

Kenji sighed and rubbed his head. "It sounds like I need a lot more information. Where are your sister and this other person?"

"In the fox den and not a thought yet."

Kenji turned and walked behind a tree and pulled the fox female out from behind it. "I believe I had cursed you."

She growled at him. "Yes, and the woman who freed you lifted it!"

Kenji turned angry eyes towards Usagi, and I gave my own warning growl. After several moments, he deflated. "I guess I have a lot to learn about. Come demon, bring your woman. We will go to the fox den and get this sister and the three of us will have a nice long talk."

"Um," I glanced down at Usagi, who looked at me sheepishly. "Question. If somehow my sister isn't remembered on her last ventures, would we have messed the line up?"

Kenji looked at her. "Should she be remembered?" Usagi nodded sheepishly. "The "line" is always whole. It neither goes forwards or backward or rewrites itself. If she should have been remembered, she would have been. Something is very wrong. Does that mean you don't want the demon to talk with us?"

I glanced down at Usagi. I was starting to understand slightly. "Your sister has met this Sesshomaru before?" Things were starting to make a bit more sense, but only a bit.

Usagi sighed deeply. "No, and yes. She will someday meet you for the first time. She already knew you when you took her out of the well."

I thought this over. Things started to click to place in my mind. The main things was their strange clothes when I first met them, then it fell more into place the more my mind raced. "So, the well being broken was about more than the water in it?" She nodded. "We never met before."

"No, but I knew of you from my sister. I think we might have sort of met though."

"Explain."

"I am pretty sure it was you who was the bossy voice on the other side before we fell in the well. Your voice was different, but from what was going on before I fell, it makes sense it was you. I never saw you or anything, just heard your voice."

"This Sesshomaru would never forget your voice."

When she tried to tuck herself into a ball while I held her, I held her tighter before giving my arms the command to do so. "You do forget it though. Or, I died, and hearing my voice, you don't connect it with me anymore since I'm dead." For the first time since I was a pup, my acid whip acted on its own with the flare of my emotions and made a huge arc around my body, slashing the nearby tree to splinters and cutting the grass and the ground. Thankfully the fox alpha and the man called Kenji were enough a distance away that it didn't harm either of them.

Usagi's little hand cupped my cheek, and she tried to get me to focus on her to calm myself. My whip hadn't stopped lashing on its own in defense of a threat I couldn't even perceive yet. Her hand on my cheek did nothing to calm me. My thoughts were racing, trying to find what could cause her to die. I wouldn't allow anything to harm her, and my whip reacted to that promise. Her little hand felt soft and fragile, and it only made my whip continue to act on its own in my desire to protect that little hand and keep it on my cheek. I had to protect it. It was mine to protect. I turned my head and bit her wrist hard, my fangs piercing the skin.

She gave a soft gasp, and her head turned to the side to show me her neck. It was submission and acceptance. It was all I needed to lick her wrist clean of the blood and then softly nip her neck. I didn't even taste the blood. It was like being in a haze, the two sides of myself neither fighting or staying in control, nearly acting on pure automatic instincts without my brain's help and my senses dulled beyond what I could understand. She gave a soft whimper of need and gripped the fabric at my chest tightly. The two fox women had no idea what they were talking about. Usagi had accepted her place as mine. I would see to it that she stay at my side for the rest of my life.

At some point, with my fangs nipping at her neck multiple times, my whip calmed down and the haze started to lift. She would be mine. That was all there was to it. She had imprinted her scent in my mind, and her scent would stay there. I would make sure of it. I would never forget this wisp of a woman. I had no idea where she would go in the supposed two hundred some years, but she would not die, and I would not forget her. I would see to it or die trying myself.

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Author's Note: Sorry I have to leave the rapid-fire updates on this note. It will be a few hours or tomorrow before I'm able to update again. Have a good day until then!


	19. Author's Note

Dear Readers,

This will simply be a note tonight, unless my beta happens to come back online. I've had several PM's I would like to take note of. I've also be ransomed by the same man again, and he was in my BIOS. I had to rebuild my BIOS and then rebuild yet again. Don't worry, as soon as my beta and I are done, we have one minor thing in chapter 19 that due to the PM's I'm not taking very seriously every time something like this comes up, but we should have a few chapters up quickly at that point.

I have had several PM's from readers over the last few weeks. Maybe it is because we are getting to some of the heavy things about Usagi. Thank you for all the support you have sent my way, or the people who have messaged to tell me that my story is reaching them in a way they can connect to due to being a victim themselves or having a friend/family member who was a victim. This story was born in a time I needed to heal, in a time I was too afraid to go to the store even because there might be someone who looked like my rapist or I was bumped and would scream after they grabbed me to steady me. I went to support groups, but the leader of the group tended to have a degree and no history of it and didn't seem to "get it". If my story "gets it" and helps, then that is partly what I'm here for. This is partly healing, but as it healed, it went past that and became a story. It went from a quick piece to get the feelings out and heal, to a story that I'm proud of despite some of the darkness that resides.

As some readers have expressed that the trueness and keeping things real that many stories avoid to keep things light, I intend to keep it that way. No backing away from being real while trying to stay true to the characters they become due to this new jewel. No "making it light" just because I don't want to scare people with how dark some of that darkness gets. I will keep it real, that is a promise. Even if it means I have fewer readers because I didn't make it light, I am willing to accept that. Because I know from readers who reached out to me that this helps. The darkness someday turning to light helps them. It lets them know that there is an out someday.

I'll be honest. I have nightmares about it still. I don't always fully remember the nightmares or remember more than some feelings, just wake up in a panic, heart racing, covered in sweat and shaking. I still have to turn on every light in the house, even the oven light, when there is a thunderstorm and I'm home alone because it happened during a thunderstorm. I still can't go to the woods alone, or to the state park where there are cabins in the woods. We have a blueberry farm behind my parent's house, and the quickest way is to go through the woods and come out the other side. The best bushes are there too. And the woods have hidden the best onions that are heirlooms from decades ago. I have yet to go through those woods since it happened. The backyards I grew up in past two or three feet into the gardened part of the woods has not seen me in over six years minus a few attempts that lasted less than a minute. I have tried. I always say, "This year, I'll taste that sweet, sweet onion again and it will be even sweeter because I defeated my fear." Every year I get a few feet in, or this year I got all the way through the gardened part of the woods and into the overgrown, unkept part of the woods, a bit father every year, but the result has always been to run right back to the house and hide under the table for an hour with a knife. I'm afraid that this next spring is my last chance, as my parents are selling the house and I've long since moved out. Does it get better? Tough question. I would say that some get better. Some will never be the same. I have a ton of scar tissue from the multiple times a day it happened. I was locked up, and it happened several times a day for several days. There is nothing they can do to heal those wounds. As such, sex from before the rape and after hasn't ever been the same. Is it still enjoyable? If we go about it the right way, which took time to learn. My fiance can't go down on me. For some reason, that is the only thing so far he has yet to break past on me and my past. My mind tries to block that time, but that is one thing that I can't do. Even though I trust my man so completely, feel so safe with him, that is one thing that freezes me in terror. I can't even tell him, so he will read it the first time here. I feel safe behind my computer sometimes and can get that stuff out. I like the feeling of heavy blankets on me too, they feel safe, just like when I fall asleep with his arm over me. I sleep best then. So does it get better? Some parts do. I go shopping just fine and don't see my rapist everywhere now. I bump into someone I don't scream if they grab me to steady me. Will I get that onion before my parents sell the house? I don't know. I'll try my best in the spring again. Will I ever be able to shake the nightmares? I have no idea, but it would be nice. For now, I have my support buddy next to me in bed who cuddles me and keeps me safe, and knows how to kill someone who comes near. I found sleeping on the far side of him from the door helps. A lot of ookami/inu tendencies are going to show up for Usagi, because those helped me. My therapist explained that these are actually animal instincts built into our DNA, and mine just show more due to the rape and now being more alert to my instinct and protecting myself and my "pack". The whole fight or flight and my flight is broken in a sense thanks to the rapist beating me to not run away so my fight is always ready. My therapist still sees me every other week, and she likely is reading as well. Found out she was in Inuyasha fan, ships Sess/Kag, but has rather fallen in love with me doing this. She is trying to coin a new term from my broken flight, and I have a fight to flight response now. I fight to get them down so they can't follow, then flight, which is what I did to get away those years ago. I was just shy of 21 when it happened, and I'm several months into 26 now. It has been a long and hard-fought road. It is better, but none of it will ever be, "Oh yeah, I got rapped, so what, who hasn't." I've seen some people like that, and they are not alright in the least bit. But someday it will be, "Oh, I was rapped when I was a young adult, and it was horrific, but I'm not letting it control me and moving on, here is a picture of my husband and our children and I'm doing well enough that there are some days I don't even think about it anymore." That is the goal. It is a ways down the road. And everyone heals differently. But this is the reality for me. Nearly five and a half years later and I'm broken but mending. Always mending. Glue the pieces together stronger than before, and a fractured bone builds cartilage so it can't break again easy kind of mentality.

As such, my beta just came online and we are going to keep this real. No faking, no hiding behind a friendly wall. Some of my readers are going to pick up on things, short choppy sentences and thoughts from when we are in Usagi's POV and the likes, that will be obvious to some that she is aware, but ignoring it, or trying to distract from the darkness eating at her. These readers will note this like they have in the past. Some readers will gloss over it, seeing nothing because they don't have the experience. Those of you who notice, I'm sorry you have an experience that makes you take note. Those who don't notice, you are lucky and I pray you never have to get an experience that makes you take note.

Please excuse me while we going check the honest boxes for this story and maybe get something up tonight.

-UsagiSakura-sama


	20. Chapter 19 & 20

Author's Note: My beta and I agreed for the first time on only minor edits! Up early. TRIGGER WARRNING! WE start going heaving into rape stuff here for a bit. You were warned.

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I had no idea how long I stayed with my head to the side and Sesshomaru's fangs on my neck, but I was more than happy when I felt him relax and cling to me tighter. I waited a few more seconds, and he pulled his fangs from my neck. He glanced at me, and his eyes were rimmed in red, but it didn't scare me. For some reason, I felt more like a woman than ever before seeing him staring at me with those eyes. He kissed my forehead and looked around.

The area around us was destroyed. The ground was clear of grass, what was left of the tree was in flames, and the dirt itself was dug down a few inches. Sesshomaru refused to put me down. He also didn't say a word about the state of the area around us. He simply walked over it and to Kenji. Kenji was holding on to the little fox demon in his arms and did not comment Sesshomaru losing control as he did. He carried the fox demon back to the den and ducked in himself. There was an angry growl, and all the fox demons had backed away from Kenji.

Kenji handed the little fainted fox demon off to a guard with a sigh. "You should be afraid, but for some reason, I feel cursing her a second time would be a mistake. Where is this sister, little one?" Kenji asked, looking back at me.

I looked around and spotted Kagome curled up in the corner of the den. I realized she must have felt the spike in Sesshomaru's youkai like a burn. I tried to push away from Sesshomaru, but it took several dozen tries before he let me down. He followed me almost closer than a shadow as I walked to Kagome and knelt in front of her. I touched her shoulder, and she winced before looking up at me. When she did, she launched at me and hugged me tightly. I put a hand against her head and held her to me for a moment. "You okay?" She nodded.

I turned to Kenji. "She's a miko, semi-trained. Sesshomaru's youkai must have burned, and she was trying to not lash out at the people around her."

The rabbit demon took several scoots away from Kagome, probably only just realizing what was going on inside my sister. He looked slightly disgusted at her.

"And your reki didn't react?" Kenji asked.

"As everyone is alive and unharmed, I guess she didn't."

"I was talking to you little one. What of your reki?"

I gave a humorless chuckle. "Despite every wish and hope, I have none."

Kenji looked at me, confused. "You do. You couldn't have freed me if you didn't."

"Trust me; I don't. No one would have died if I did. Or, more would have died."

Kagome looked at me strangely. "What do you mean by that Usagi? Who died?"

I sighed and sat down hard next to my sister. "Just what I said. This is Kenji. He says that no matter what we say or do, the timeline won't be messed up. It will happen as it already has."

She looked at the god and frowned. "That's impossible. I met Sesshomaru two hundred years from now, and he doesn't know me at all."

Kenji rubbed his eyes. "That's impossible unless something alters his memory. In the future, you will already have been here. He should remember. I've never heard of a Taiyoukai having amnesia."

I sighed. "Well, whatever reason he forgets, we don't have to tiptoe around saying something he won't remember anyway. I'm Higurashi Usagi. I was adopted by Kagome's mother in the year 1998. I have no idea when I was born, but I was in Kindergarten when my parents and younger sister were killed. I had to be four or five years old when that happened, which puts me at about sixteen years old."

Kagome sighed. "There are no demons that I know of in our time, and everything that happens in this time is considered a myth."

"There may be demons in our time, but my memory isn't fully accurate of the family I stayed with," I add softly. Kagome turned to look at me and opened her mouth, but I held up a hand to quiet her. "After my parents and sister died, I stayed with a family in my parents' will. At home, they had purple eyes and red hair that came almost to the floor. When they stepped outside, they had brown eyes and dark brown hair of a normal length and looked very plain. At least, of what I can remember they did. It might not be true. I was attacked while with the family and was moved to an orphanage. They never ruled my parents and sister's deaths as murders. No one believed that a demon had attacked me and that the son who was my friend in the family I stayed with jumped over buildings to get me away from the attempted murderers. They thought that I was covering for being attacked by the family, and I was removed from their home. They tried again the day I got to the orphanage. I remember being told about a break-in and being hurt in it, but I didn't wake up for a week after the break-in. I didn't remember much of what happened before coming to the orphanage either, or it faded in time.''

Kagome stared at me with a wide-open mouth and huge eyes. ''If that's true, why did I never sense any demons?''

"Probably the same reason no one looks like a demon."

Sesshomaru lifted an eyebrow at me. "A concealment spell. A raccoon dog or fox should be able to make one quite easily. In seven hundred years, it should be rather perfected. It only is able to fool humans and lower-powered miko and monks."

Kagome let out a very long breath and leaned against the wall hard. I squeezed her shoulder then plopped down next to her before speaking again. "Well, that would make sense, I guess. It almost fits perfectly with the stories."

Kenji plopped down next to me and leaned his head on my shoulder despite Sesshomaru growling lowly at him. "Tell me, little Miko. Tell me the stories."

I sighed. "They aren't interesting. They are rather confusing."

"No," Kenji said, shaking his head on my shoulder. "They may give me information, or I might be able to tell you something that makes them make sense."

"Alright, then. I'm from a line of double-born miko. The eldest sister is the strongest, but the younger sister carries the bloodline for it to become stronger next generation."

Kenji nodded. "When we realized only a miko would be able to break the jewel that held souls together, we started by finding the strongest links between miko. The sister-miko are the strongest. We started with about eighty sister-miko. When I was trapped, we still had all eighty, and they had promised to live and grow and love and have at least two babies. We always helped them find their perfect match who could continue the line. We have been doing it about three generations by now."

I shuddered. "I didn't know it was eighty. I knew it was many, but not how many. When I was born, we were one of the last families alive by about ten. By the time my sister was born, we could count them on the one hand."

"You survived. And you carried the jewel."

"We didn't know I did. Sorry Kagome," I said with a small smile. "I knew some of the stories grandpa said before he said them, just knew them slightly differently."

"Where does the Shikon Jewel come into play?" Kagome said softly.

"What's a Shikon Jewel?" Kenji asked, curious.

Kagome gave a soft shudder this time. "It was a jewel that was coveted by a spider half-demon named Naraku. He went mad with the desire for it and killed thousands of demons and humans to possess it. It had the power to grant a wish, but the shards could drive humans and demons mad, and it increased their power."

Kenji nodded, but then was picked up from my shoulder and placed on the other side of Kagome. Sesshomaru then sat down next to me and yanked me into his side. I blushed hard and tried to pull away, but he held firm. I tried to ignore and forget my position. Kenji looked around Kagome at me, shrugged, and put his head on Kagome's shoulder. "So, this jewel is similar in the fact it can grant wishes and give power, but it sounds flawed. This jewel is much stronger. And you said half-demon spider?" Kagome nodded. "Well, he might be part of the spider group, or he might not. A group of full-demon spiders is capturing the Kami souls." Kenji yawned. "Little one, if you can breathe over there, please keep going."

"Kagome's family was actually part of the group of sister-miko until they broke the chain about four generations before Kagome was born. I didn't find it out until about five months ago going through the storage shed." Kagome set her mouth in a firm line but said nothing. "Someone was murdering the families of sister-miko when I was born. My mother had secret passwords and codes and such that if anyone came to pick me up at school, I was to go with them without question if they said one of these things. The day my family were killed someone I didn't know came and told me a code. He took me for ice cream and got me a stuffed animal. We played for a while, and then he took me to the family I stayed with in my parents' will, and I never saw him again. The family I stayed with must have called the police and gone from there. I don't really remember my old home, or how I understood my family was dead. I remember it burned down with everyone inside. But I also remember a photo of it. It looked melted, not burned. They said it was the cause of the water they used to put the house out."

Kenji stretched his toes and pointed them, then looked over at me. "Hey, big demon lord." Sesshomaru shifted me deeper into his side as he turned. "You clearly don't know much about humans, but you are compressing her stomach and chest, so she is having a hard time breathing and talking." Sesshomaru pulled me slightly away, and my lungs forced me to take an instant deeper breath that I didn't know I needed. He frowned down at me and moved me onto his lap with his arms around my hips. I didn't like this any better. "Demon, you are really bad at this. She isn't breathing now." Sesshomaru gave me a light shake as if it would solve the problem. Kenji shook his head, and Sesshomaru growled.

"She is choosing not to breathe."

"Is she?" Kenji countered.

"Usagi, breathe," Sesshomaru commanded me. I tried, and it was a choked, gasping sound. He instantly let go of me, and I was up and out of his lap and half-way across the den without realizing I did it.

"Usagi," Kagome said softly. I looked at her. "What happened?" Kagome glared at Sesshomaru, and I was afraid for him, despite knowing he probably could best her in a match. Kagome fighting Sesshomaru didn't sit well though.

Kenji stood up and walked over to me. He put a hand on my forehead, and my world went black.

* * *

Chapter 20:

The god Kenji turned to the sister. "When was she raped?" Kagome went pale as a sheet, and my ears rang, and everything sounded like I was listening underwater.

"She wasn't. She couldn't have been."

"She was, and that reaction was probably from multiple rapes."

Kagome put a hand over her face. "You said she didn't always live with you." My voice sounded funny. Kagome looked at me oddly.

"Usagi didn't always live with us. She lived in a home for orphans. My brother found her some time ago. She was shy and fearful of everything. She was bruised very badly when she came to us, and she was very thin. Usagi refused a doctor, so we never knew. We should have since she was very thin. She always eats only when everyone else has eaten some if she can. They must have punished her and the other kids with starving. She loves stories and music and is a very gifted singer, and she always said stories and music were her escape. I had no idea she was trying to escape that." I think I snorted, but everything sounded like I was listening while half asleep and resting. The sister looked at me and sighed.

Kenji picked Usagi up and put her next to the rabbit children and covered her with a blanket. "She was abused and raped then. Poor little thing." He turned to me. "I don't care what you feel for her. She isn't yours. She has a task she was born to do. When she is done, then feel free to do what you like." I think I growled, but the god was pointing at me, and I was fighting the sleep he was trying to push me into. I lasted about a minute before I succumbed.


	21. Chapter 21

Author's Note: Rapid-fire next chapter! Hello Kagome, do tell us some things. Next chapter in a few minutes.

* * *

The kami smiled at me. "So, you are Kagome?" I nodded. "Tell me about your trip through time. This isn't your first, right?" I nodded slowly this time. "They both are asleep. I could tell you were nervous about the demon." I glanced around, but the rabbit demon father was asleep too. Kenji waved at him dismissively. "He was the first one I knocked out."

"I went through time to about five hundred years in the past from the time I was born. There, I met Inuyasha."

When I finished telling the tale to Kenji, he sighed. "He must be a break-off from the same spiders."

"How do you know?"

"He has a lot of the same qualities of the ones we have been fighting. But if you said there was never any mention of the Jewel of the Gods Souls, something happens in that time. Either she finishes her quest, and it isn't important, or the whole world forgets it."

"It could be less important or less of a problem than it is now, but it doesn't explain why the Shikon Jewel is the only jewel of power ever mentioned. If it were even in the ancient past, someone probably would have mentioned it. But Sesshomaru doesn't remember us. Something must happen."

Kenji rubbed his temples. "And I never came to you? You never saw me?"

I shook my head in the way of answer and leaned against the wall of the den. "I never met Shippo's dad, but he saves me in the future. He must have remembered me to save me."

"That makes sense then. So not everyone forgets. But no one talks of the jewel. This is very curious. Do you know of wolf demons?"

I nodded. "I know a whole tribe."

"Do you know they mate for life?" I nodded again. "Certain dog demons do as well. For them to stray is almost unheard of. I know that the current Lord of the West has strayed and will continue to stray, and his son will too from your story. But Sesshomaru is cut from a different cloth than his father. I don't see it in him to stray. So how does he forget a woman he is so clearly intent on keeping as his own?" I gave a small laugh. "What is so funny?"

"Despite how he appears now, in a few hundred years, he will change. He almost completely despises humans. Minus a select few, he is unable to even be near most of them without being disgusted. Something happens that turns him off humans. He could turn his back on my sister easily then."

Kenji frowned and looked at Sesshomaru. "So, his father changes his mind on humans, and so does Sesshomaru? Interesting. I don't see it changing because of something she does while alive. She might die then, and her loss turns him away from humans."

I can feel myself shaking while discussing possibly losing my sister in this time, but I keep talking. "So what? He loves her, mates her, she dies, and he sees all humans as weak and hates them all? That doesn't sound like Sesshomaru. He would blame himself for her loss and find a way to bring her back. It may seem like not much of a stretch for most people to think they failed, they failed because humans are weak, and then despise humans for their weakness, but that doesn't seem like Sesshomaru to me. He would always blame himself for not being able to protect her, even if she died of old age, sickness, or in a battle. And if something happens and we go back to our time and can't make it back, he would wait nearly seven hundred years to find her again."

Kenji drew a picture on the ground, but I couldn't tell what he was drawing. He was silent while he was working, and whatever he drew only made sense to him. He paused after several minutes. "Do you know about how mating works?"

"Only a bit."

He nodded and continued to draw for a few minutes. "Well, mating works like binding souls. Humans didn't marry long ago. They learned the practice from demons. I find it funny. Humans hate demons now, but several of the most common customs that they have come from demons. I hope human women aren't as tied into their marriages in the future?"

"Both sides can end the marriage or only one side. Same-sex couples are more widely accepted now too."

Kenji scrubbed part of the picture out, then went back to drawing for a while. "Well, both demons and kami now mate for life. Though, kami have more of an open system than demons. A demon will never invite for three or more at once. Kami do sometimes. Some demons will stray from their mate, but others mate for life, like wolves, and never stray. Mating is for life. There is no known way to break a mating bond or a betrothal mark for that matter, though only some very noble demons use betrothal marks anymore. If a mate dies, then the other won't last the week. They will become pained physically and mentally, and the pain will get worse the longer apart they are. Most don't last more than a few days. The grief usually doesn't help and adds to the speed which the surviving mate dies. I have seen so many battles where demons will refuse to kill a mated male or female and only harm them to the point of being unable to battle or move easily. It is a tragedy that few demons wish to see anyone they know go through."

"Well, that doesn't make much sense."

"How so?"

I rub my arms. "If that fox was Shippou's mother, then that couldn't have been his father or the one who raised him at least. They are mated, but Shippou's mother will die shortly after he is born and his father will raise him alone."

Kenji paused drawing his picture and raised a confused face to look at me. "Then how does he know to save you?" He started scratching symbols into the ground, but nothing made sense. After several lines of the symbols, he slammed his fist into the ground over the symbols. "We are missing something! And by the sound of it, several somethings. How does that kit's father survive? There is no aunt or uncle to take care of the kit, and even if there were, very few demons would dirty the names of a mated pair by claiming to be the child's blood father unless they don't know that Shippou's parents were mated. But it should be someone from the den who raises him, and this makes no sense! If the demon who raises that kit until he meets you has any worth, he won't claim to be his father. Uncle is the term he would demand. It not only is an insult to the dead but to the kit as well."

I sighed, suddenly feeling bad for my baby. He likely had no idea on much of this. He said he and his dad lived in a tiny den with only a few dozen other fox demons. I would need to talk to Shippou when I saw him next. I was determined to see him again soon. "Shippou aside, Sesshomaru has that look. I've seen it on Inuyasha. It is the look that says he is going to hell and back if he has to and take as long as it needs to take to get what is his. He had it when he got me and took me from the fortress. I knew not to argue with that look, or even pause to ask questions. It is in his eyes. They turn hard, like polished gemstones. Beautiful, but scary at the same time. Sesshomaru won't give up on her without a fight."

"So, what are you saying?"

"Something happens to his memory of us. Something happens that he can't remember, and then something happens after he forgets her to make him hate humans."

Kenji gave a soft chuckle. "Taiyoukai can break through in minutes any head injury causing amnesia. Spells won't last a week. If he does mate her, he would be in agony not being near her. If he mates her and she dies, he won't last a week without her from pain and sorrow at her loss. Even if he were to lose his memory of her, his body would remember her, and he would die. So, he won't mate her. That much must be clear. She won't survive the next month. She has less than thirty days left in her life then."

"What?" The word comes out in a fast deflate of my lungs, quick, painful, and forceful.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "She will have her woman's time and then be fertile, or she will be fertile soon. When she becomes fertile, he will mate her. His instincts, being as young as he is, won't allow anything else, I think. Maybe a few decades from now, he will have the strength to resist. He has already started marking her. He demanded her submission earlier, and she gave it to him when he lost control. He lost control when I told him she would die. And her blood and submission calmed him and his bestial side. He won't survive her being fertile and not marking her. The rabbit frightens me." I glanced at the rabbit demon. "He thinks he has a mark on her too. He probably will die fighting for her or lose to his own bestial side and kill her so Sesshomaru can't have her." I must have shuddered because he chuckled. "You both could go back home in that time. It may be what saves her. I can imagine him hating humans for her running away."

"I can't. Even if she ran away, he would wait for her. He wouldn't just start hating humans."

"We are going in a circle. It is the first sign you showed me that you are not fully thinking straight anymore. I must think a while. Sleep." He crossed his legs on the floor and put his chin in his hand and stared blankly at the floor. I was surprised he didn't knock me out like everyone else. I leaned back and tried to sleep against the wall.


	22. Chapter 22

Author's Note: If you read my big note on page 19, you know I wasn't always a "once and done". Please note the TRIGGER WARNING once more.

* * *

I slowly sat up, in agony for an unknown reason. I realized that my arm was asleep. I flexed the hand, feeling the pins and needles as it painfully rejected the idea of moving until the blood circulated again. I sat up by pushing myself with the other arm and glanced around. Kenji gave a half-wave but seemed to be thinking deeply on something. A glance at Sesshomaru proved him asleep still, in an unnatural position. Half of me wanted to fix it, so he slept peacefully; the other half was scared to go near him in fear of being held too tightly again.

I pushed further off the ground and looked around the den. Nothing seemed amiss. The rabbit children were asleep, their father was asleep, and Kagome was asleep. A small fox woman bent over me and whispered a good morning. I asked for soap for my face, and she smiled and was gone only a few minutes before returning and giving whispered directions to the hot spring. Thanking her, I motioned to my face and the soap for Kenji, and he gave a nod before I headed out.

I splashed water on my face. My fingers hurt badly. It almost was time to take down the shield. The one thing I could do that was reki-based, but even my father could do minor shields. If anyone tried hard enough, they could do a water shield. Everything ached. I decided a bath was in order and stripped down to take a short bath.

"You know, I was wondering something," Kenji said from behind me.

I covered my chest, ducked under the water, and screamed bloody murder. He put a finger in his ear and wiggled it. "Can this wait? Get out!"

He flapped a hand at what I was saying. "Yes, yes, in a minute. But first, do you know anything specific about the well?" I tossed the soap at him, but he caught it and tossed it back. It beamed me right in the center of my forehead. "Oh, you have no catch reflex. I don't know how I feel about that."

I tried to dive deeper under the water, leaving just my nose above it. "You really are a pervert," the fox alpha female said with a growl. "Let the girl have some amount of modesty."

Kenji sighed and stood before giving me a wave and walking off. The alpha female stripped to an under kimono layer and carefully got into the water. She sat in a lower part of the hot spring, on the edge of where it got deep. She pulled out another soap and motioned me over. I slowly moved closer, and she lightly grabbed my shoulder and turned me. Then she grabbed my hair and started to work the soap into it. "Thanks," I said softly.

"Don't thank me yet. I'm trying to make it so you can run home without that dog chasing you."

I frowned but tilted my head back as her little paws gave a soft tug at my hair. "I'm not sure that would be an option."

She barked out a laugh. "When I finish, it will be."

I shook my head and sighed. "No, I know men. If they want something, they rarely give up. For whatever reason, he wants me."

The alpha fox lifted my arm and lightly rubbed the soap down it. "Girl, you freed me from a curse. You saved my husband from losing us. I'll take you home and help you. You and your sister. You earned it." She lifted my other arm and ran the soap down that arm too. "Unless you want him around. He is very powerful. Dealing with one demon instead of many is in some ways easier." I shuddered. She knew something about my past. Despite having not been there, she knew something. Something more than I had ever said. She lightly dug her nails into my shoulders. "Strong child, strong. Talk to me."

"It wasn't always one."

"I know."

"And it wasn't always once and then done for the day."

"I know."

"And I'm hiding under the water."

There was a pause before a soft, "I know."

I turned towards her. "You can see what I'm also hiding?" She nodded sadly. "Then, you do know." A lone tear fell down the fox woman's cheek. "It doesn't matter. I'm not going to be able to keep going much longer. Every day has been more of a struggle than the last. For the past two months, I wasn't sure I could hide again each day. If he wants to be around, if I can release as many gods as possible, then that is what we shall do for the next few months."

"Child," she said softly, then lightly ran a hand covered in foxfire down my arm, revealing a highly-dark-spotted arm. "Child," she tried again, "this should have killed you weeks ago. I don't know how you are hanging on."

"Should have killed me years ago. I've been this way since I was five or six years old." She shuddered. "I guess if I did have reki, it has been protecting me as best it can from this. It hasn't had the power to do anything else."

She nodded and stood, handing me the soap. "Keep it. If your abilities start to fail, it may hide that smell a day or two." I nodded, and she looked back towards the direction of the den. "I have to go talk to someone. Finish as you like. That god is hiding right now. Coward. Lord Sesshomaru is awake." I gave a shudder, and she lightly squeezed my hand, then ran off as best she could being pregnant.

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry my darlings, but it is almost 2 AM here, or it will be when I'm asleep, and my beta has disappeared again for the night it seems. That being said, I will be posting more when I can. We haven't even hit the first 75 pages, and I have over 200 more pages just waiting on my beta and time to do it. I have some stuff to do tomorrow, but I'll try to be on tomorrow night to work with my beta. I have to be up at 5 AM, so just a few hours but I need it. Good night dears!


	23. Chapter 23

Author's Note: I HAVE NOT DIED! Though I questioned if my beta had when he went missing for a while due to a miscommunication... But no, I am alive and several more of my family members are not. I also had several house things happen, minor surgery with a little bit larger complications from it, and several other projects going on. It has not been a pleasant time trying to keep up with everything, and I'm sorry I've been missing.

But I am back and giving you a whole heck of a lot tonight! We will be going to at least 28 tonight, 29 and 30 if my beta gets through them! Then... Then things get hard. I've struggled in sending chapter 31 to my beta, and while I finally did so tonight, I don't know his reaction as I type this. He is finishing 29 and 30, but it might be several days to work through 31. 31 is short, but probably the most important chapter to this point. 31 is also the hardest chapter for me so far for many reasons, and trying to work through it with my beta may take time because of the difficulty I have with the chapter. The one person who did read it wouldn't let go of me for several hours after reading it. We couldn't even talk about it. So please, give me time. I'm fighting my own demons with this chapter. I hope not too much time is needed, but at least some time will.

Without making you wait any longer here is 23 my dears! Enjoy!

* * *

I was pissed. The sister was awake, but Usagi was missing. The sister was holding a barrier of reki to prevent me from going to find her sister. I don't think she even noticed she was doing it. Reasoning with the sister wasn't working. I normally would rip her arm off, but I didn't think Usagi would be too pleased about that. The barrier dropped for a small section briefly, too small for me to fit through, and the female fox alpha came into the den. She huffed at me, then beckoned with a finger for me to move to her much lower level. I sat on the floor but bent no further. I was more dominant, and I would bend to a degree, but pride and strength would allow no more.

Satisfied enough, her tail twitched in anger as she stared at me. "Men are stupid." I raised an eyebrow at this. "Let me finish! When men see things they desire, they become stupid. So, I'm sending you on a quest, oh great dog demon. A quest you must not fail, as I have become fond of that little human." I nodded, suddenly interested in the knowledge she somehow had that I did not to be sending me on some quest. I would at least listen. "That girl is battling an enemy that only you can save her from."

I stood instantly. "Where?"

She huffed. "It isn't an enemy you can destroy with claw or sword. And it isn't a ghost from her past that harmed her. It is something powerful that is still harming her, causing her physical pain this very second!" She made a flapping hand gesture at the rabbit diplomat, getting more upset by the moment. It was clearly becoming one of her "moments" that I had heard from my father about treading carefully in, one that had gotten her cursed. "He can't do anything. She has been fighting it for too long. She is failing. When she was with you, from the moment she met you, she was in a battle." The little fox alpha headed to one of her lady's maids and whispered something in her ear. The maid nodded and rushed off.

"What enemy has she battled without this Sesshomaru's knowledge?" I was teetering on the edge of something, and something I wasn't sure I wanted to know or charge into without knowing. At the same time, I wanted to find Usagi and kill the enemy.

But the fox woman said no more and sat in her chair drinking tea. I glared at her and debated taking down Kagome's barrier. It wouldn't be much of a challenge, but my father had drilled into me that I needed to gather knowledge before going into battle blind. Blind could mean the death of many soldiers or losses that could lead to losing a war. But something had me wanting to ignore that and get Usagi back to my side. The other logical parts of me were afraid of my father's wrath for both myself and Usagi if she made me abandon his teachings. I'd heard enough times how a human could make even the smarted and strongest demons stupid with a feeling of love, usually with my Uncle as the center of a story. I sat and waited for more information, but my legs wanted to race and get Usagi back to my side, and I sat trying to suppress the twitching in my muscles to do just that. The barrier looked so easy to destroy, but if I wanted my father's approval of her, I had to stay seated until I knew more.

Several minutes later, the maid came back and handed her mistress a scroll. The alpha opened and looked at it, nodded, and waved it towards me. The fox maid handed it to me, and I opened it and read. It was puzzling, more of a poem somehow woven inside of a picture, but I was having trouble reading it as it was fuzzy.

"That was a gift. From a human who came across it some tens of years ago on a demon corpse, who said that since a fox from our den had saved his wife by obtaining an herb she needed, he would give it to us. A demon he had helped some hours after finding the scroll said that a powerful demon would have use for it to save someone precious." She laughed lightly. "If you see something, do tell. All we saw was a painting. I'd love to know what is hidden in it."

"There is a poem, fuzzy, but there."

She nodded. "The corpse was a taiyokai. Not a dog, but he was a friend of a certain family member of yours." I bristled, then looked back at the picture. "Surely, it is magic. A spell. Something of the likes. What we were able to gather, a taiyokai could see the words, but only when his desire to see them was a pure reason. Being that it is fuzzy, your intention is not yet pure enough to read it." I growled lightly in my throat in warning. She sighed. "She will come back soon. Hopefully, you save her. Or, if you fail, I'll make your life hell in any way I can."

I stared down at the poem that I couldn't see and tried to glare it into giving its secrets. Maybe Usagi had more answers. She had proven wise. I would seek her advice.

There was a crash or something hitting Kagome's barrier, and Kagome screamed, dropping it instantly. Usagi tried to hide under her kimono, whimpering, and turning away from where I could see. I pocketed the scroll and stood to go to her.

The first thing I noticed was a soft smoke coming from her. "Usagi," I started, but she curled into herself. I held the sister back with one arm. "What is wrong?"

She took a few deep breaths and calmed her whimper. Whatever hurt her from the barrier, it was stronger than most of the other pains she had faced in the past. I gave a light sniff but smelt nothing, not even her normal scent. "Stay back," she commanded softly. Usagi pushed herself to stand, and I caught notice of dark black and dying fingers. I took two steps forward, and she froze, her back to me. "Please, stay back." I stood still. The sister was babbling incoherently at Usagi, but I paid it no mind.

"Explain. Did the barrier burn you? Did it try to purify you?"

She gave a humorless bark of a laugh. "Yes and no."

"Elaborate."

"Please, stay there," she begged, then ran off.

I waited several minutes, then headed in the direction she went. Her fingers were too injured for me to listen to the plea she had left me with. There was no smell to guide me, and it was a challenge I didn't know I was poorly equipped to handle. I had been trained to hunt on signs, but I relied too heavily on my sense of smell, it seemed. I started trying to track the shoes she had been wearing, but the foxes tended to mimic young humans or smaller-framed humans to suit their needs, and tracks proved hard to follow. Foxes had been out, going to local human villages all morning, and without scent or more than just a generalized direction, it was more of a challenge than I cared to admit.

After several failed tracks that were too fresh and had scents attached, I went with tracks with multiple feet or highly walked paths. I found her wet, walking back slowly, far too long from when I started. When I got to her, I lifted a lock of her hair to my nose, too agitated to care about proper etiquette. There was no scent. I picked up her hand, but the fingers appeared to be whole and unmarred, no signs of dying. She lightly pulled away, and then after a pause, she also turned away.

"I won't explain. I don't have to."

"You do."

She sighed. "It doesn't matter. Kenji," she called softly, "where is the next location to release someone?" There was no answer.

I grabbed her chin and made her look at me. "You will tell this Sesshomaru why you have no scent and why the barrier did what it did." She tried to jerk away, but I held firm. She dropped her eyes, hid them behind her lashes, and sighed. "Now."

"You wouldn't understand. I don't understand it yet."

"Try."

"I am not a youkai. There is no youkai in my family line." She looked away, and I could tell she was seeing something no one else could, lost in her mind. It was a blank look, but at the same time, it was a look that screamed she didn't want to remember something. She rubbed her arms several times before looking back to finish her thought. "Yet, I have part of a youkai in me."

"We established you are human." I paused. "You are not pregnant." I meant it as a statement, but the last tiny part of the syllable was tipped slightly in question.

"No, I'm not. I'm not cursed that I know of either."

I nodded but lifted her hand to inspect it. There were no marks, not a single blemish. I pushed her sleeve up and noted the same thing. "You appear fine now." She nodded. "Then we will head out shortly." She nodded again and fingered the jewel in her breast bindings before following me back to the den.

I was going to have to trust that she was being truthful. For some reason, her scent was still gone. It went against the fur for her to hide her scent from me. It felt like a punishment. I was lost in thoughts of how to demand she bring back her scent when she spoke again.

"Why do you only sometimes say things like, "This One" or "This Sesshomaru"?"

It was a good question, one I wasn't sure I was ready to answer. It was a rather childish reason, one I kept up mostly from habit around others. I guessed that I had slipped up a few times, and she took notice. "My father is powerful. And the power he holds over so many can sometimes go to his head in a way. Not often, but when I was a pup, he lorded his power over me in front of others. It was one of the few times my mother stepped in and used her own rank and power to set him straight."

I looked back at Usagi, but she gave no hints to what she was thinking, running her fingers like a comb through her hair at the ends. After a moment, I decided to press on. "My mother used it, and it made my father angry. Copying her, I used it right after she did, and my father was shut down, to borrow your term. I keep it up to show him that he isn't all-powerful, and it makes him angry and annoyed when I usually am angry and annoyed as well. I'm sure someday I'll challenge him and push too far with it, but for now, he doesn't feel overly threatened by it."

Glancing back again, and Usagi's brow was furrowed. Her hand was caught in her hair, and she was trying to yank it through. I winced as I heard hairs breaking as her hand came free, and nearly growled as she shook several strands off her hand. She looked at me and smiled. Several steps later, she quickened her pace to my side, taking two steps for every one of mine.

She hummed softly, and I slowed my pace to let her keep up easier. Her kimono was from the foxes, and it was tied tightly at the top, but she left the bottom looser. She looked at me, giggled, and turned two flips on her hands, revealing each time long expanses of her legs. I remembered hearing humans calling them cartwheels. It was very indecent, but no one was around, so I let it slide. I rather liked the look of the legs as well, firm and muscular yet shapely and feminine.

Usagi waited where she had stopped the cartwheels, hands clasped behind her back, and her lip between her teeth as she rocked on her heels. "Well," she said as I reached her, "he is the only father you have. Annoying or not, he is your family, and your blood is partly his blood. I was too young to appreciate my parents for who they were. I was often nicknamed spoilt brat. Then my parents were gone before I could appreciate them or even apologize. Don't let your chance to know him for who he is now or in the past or what he could be in the future be ruined because you find him annoying. He is family. Try telling him what you find annoying or hurtful. If he cares about you, he likely will try to stop doing those things if he can. But if he does it more, save a few punches for me in that challenge."

I stared at her dumbfounded as she smiled, then raced off back towards the den. Her smile hadn't fully reached her eyes, but she was honest. She, a human woman, would punch the most powerful demon around just for my father being annoying or saying hurtful things to me. I shook my head and followed after her to the den.

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Author's Note: Alright dears, hold on while then next one gets put into the system and posted. Hopefully, by the time you get to this line, it is up!


	24. Chapter 24

Author's Note: I don't need a long one do I? Nope, this is it. Enjoy!

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I made short work of arranging traveling needs with the alpha male, and he agreed willingly. The fox alphas both hugged Usagi and handed her the guitar before she left. The youngest rabbit, Anthony, held her hand as we walked. The eldest rabbit child and therefore, the leader, Victor, didn't hold her hand but walked and chatted with the two. Maria, the cook, would randomly drag Usagi into a game as we walked.

We kept a good pace in our disguises, and when we stopped for the night, Usagi sang for everyone while they skinned my kill and prepared it. Maria insisted on helping, despite Usagi's protests. I sat next to Usagi for dinner, accepting only a bit of food as I was busy looking at the painting with the hidden poem. The rabbit diplomat kept watch with me, despite me informing him he did not need to. He left his servants in the rabbit den, with instructions to go home. His eyes rarely left Usagi who slept with her eye twitching the whole night.

In the morning, Usagi asked where we were headed for the first time as we ate reheated deer meat.

"There are several famous sites for battles over that jewel. One is rather close to us," I explained.

She nodded and stumbled slightly standing. She whispered about a pebble stuck in her shoe to Anthony, who found it and pulled it out while she balanced on one foot against the tree. He slipped her shoe back on, and I carefully kept an eye on her for another wobble. He toes flexed with a small pop in each bone, and she walked forward like normal.

Usagi and her sister chatted for a while, Kagome telling her tales of battles and adventures. Sometimes, Usagi would say another line that would me look for my father momentarily. After a while, Usagi's eye started to twitch. I stopped us for a break by a stream, and after a few splashes of water, Usagi's scent slightly returned to the air. It was a breath of relief.

When Usagi stood up after the berries she ate, she pitched forward. She took three stumbling steps and grabbed the tree, slowly sinking to the ground. She cursed softly, then kicked her heels against the ground. She did so several times before I knelt in front of her.

She waved me off. "My feet fell asleep. Sorry. I guess they decided to sleep after so much walking and they got a break." I moved to remove her footwear. If they did fall asleep, she might have blisters. She yanked both half-under her. "I'm fine." She used the tree and pulled herself to standing. She steadied herself with the tree a few moments, then walked in a circle several times.

Wearily, I moved us onward. It stung that she wouldn't let me look at her feet. I slowed the pace, worried about Usagi. I kept a close eye on her and noticed she was taking a lot of deep breaths. I stopped before dark, claiming that we would reach our location at noon in two days at our current pace, so not to push too hard and tire the children. Usagi gave a grateful smile at the last part, but I tried to ignore it. Usagi was who I worried about. Not the children. They were the excuse I could use to get her to agree. I brought three boars back for dinner since there was so little game in the area, and Usagi didn't play the guitar or sing tonight. She hummed but stopped not long into the cooking process. She leaned against a tree and closed her eyes.

Several minutes later, Kenji was holding a hand to her forehead. She opened her eyes, asked him to take her to the river we passed. He smiled and led her out of the camp.

About a half-hour passed, and I was about to go find Usagi myself when Kenji walked slowly back into camp. He worried his inside cheek. "Sesshomaru." I stood and went to him. "Usagi sent me to get a few things. I think she is being stupid. I can't help her." He gripped my arm as I took a step back towards the river. "Sesshomaru, she isn't going to survive more than a few more days." I ripped my arm away and raced after her scent.

I found her, and my stomach churned. She was in her under kimono, but the pale grey color to her skin that wasn't covered in dark spots wasn't a good sign. She was half-underwater, and her breathing was ragged. Her eyes were closed, and she looked near-death. I wadded into the water towards her.

She opened her eyes a crack and tried to turn away. She put her hands on the water, and the water slowly licked up her hands, hiding her dying fingers and turning them how I had seen them, unmarked and perfect. With a cry, the water seemed to spark against her skin, and it fell away to reveal the dying skin. She wobbled side-to-side and slipped under the water. I lifted her out and held her lightly as possible in my lap. I slapped her cheeks as hard as I dare twice, and her eyes blinked open. They were yellow and bloodshot. She looked away. Her scent reeked of death and fingers and toes that even with an antidote might be lost, and it was so putrid I wanted to gag. Her beautiful scent was gone.

"When were you poisoned?"

"A long time ago," she said softly.

I gave a slight whiff, not wanting to take too much of it in and gag, offending her. She didn't need that now. It was clear it was of yokai origin, but I couldn't tell much more. It was too powerful a stench that it nearly made me gag and vomit from just the light whiff. I carefully lifted her in my arms and moved out of the stream. I covered her as best as possible, as she was mostly limp and had seemed to use most of her strength. I silently cursed myself for not having demanded she explain sooner.

When we walked back into camp, I tried to get Usagi situated as calmly as possible. It was a bombardment on my sensitive senses between the tears and screaming. The sister found where the poison must have entered in the form of nasty dark visible scars across Usagi's stomach.

"I've seen this before. It is a miasma poisoning," Kagome said softly.

I nodded. "Can you fix it?"

Kagome bit her lip but didn't answer for several long moments. "I don't know. The last time I tried was a different circumstance, but I wasn't able to do it completely."

I frowned at her. "How different?" I needed to know if I needed to find a priestess to bully in the next hour or not.

"A great deal different. To put it simply, I extended her life, if you could call it that so that she could finish her task."

"Explain. Quickly!"

"She wasn't really alive. It was a reanimated clay body with her soul in it."

I frowned at this. I didn't like the differences. "Try."

The sister nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. She placed her hands on Usagi, and they glowed slightly. Usagi bucked and shook but did not wake up. Her skin smoked like she was a demon being purified by young, untrained hands. Kagome kept her hands firmly in place over the old wound, but nothing seemed to change.

The sister whimpered then looked at me. "It isn't the same. I can hold it off, but she is worse than Kikyo was. The miasma is worse too."

I put a hand on Usagi, trying to see if it was something my youkai could overpower. I wasn't sure if it would be enough to overpower it. It was a slight shock to feel the healing power of Kagome brushing against my power, even if it was through a secondary medium. I focused on the yokai's miasma inside Usagi instead.

It was strong, to put it mildly. I tried to push against it, but it didn't exactly work like a curse would have. It wasn't a curse, but it was a miasma poisoning. If it were in my bloodstream, it would be along the longer end of how long it would take for my own poison to kill. If I tried to put my poison into Usagi, it would kill her or any other being besides maybe my mother.

I pulled away. There was nothing I could do. Kenji placed a hand on my shoulder. "There isn't a Miko strong enough anywhere I know to beat this. Even a group won't be enough. I'm sorry."

Usagi was unconscious, and I had little doubt she would never wake up again. I glanced around and saw that the rabbits were all asleep, as well. "Let the children sleep," I told Kenji, but it sounded choked. Kenji nodded at me, then sat down hard on the ground. "What can we do?"

The sister was crying, but still trying to keep the miasma from spreading. Kenji shook his head sadly. "Nothing." I snarled, but by the way they looked at me, it must have sounded choked too. "If what Usagi said was true, she is the last hope for so many. For my wife and daughter, they are stuck in the jewel in pain for far too long without her. We had so many, but if we fail," Kenji stopped and slammed his hand into the ground, and there was a tiny shake from it. "When was she even poisoned! She got in the water, and her whole body turned like this in a fraction of a second!"

"The fox alpha female said she was fighting it since before she came through the well." Kenji looked at me and sighed.

"I won't give up on my sister! She won't die here!" Kagome pushed her hands harder into Usagi, and Usagi made no change other to stop bucking at it. The smoke was slowing slightly too.

"Kagome, we failed before we started," Kenji told her with a sigh.

Kagome sobbed, pushing even harder. "Why now? Did I do this by burning her with my barrier?"

I shook my head. "We don't know." I pulled the scroll out in anger, nearly ripping it, pulling it open. It still was blurry. "She was supposed to be mine!"

"She's not your anything!" Kagome screamed at me. "She's my baby sister! She's not a jewel-cracker or soul-releaser, or some slave! She is my family! All of you go to hell. I'll save my sister." She had deadly intent on her face, so determined and angry, I had to look away.

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Author's Note: Issues there a bit Kagome? Poor characters, will they survive? Let me get that next chapter up for you all!


	25. Chapter 25

Author's Note: Kagome... Kenji... Yeah... Okay, so we are going to go a little bit emotional here. Go forth and read my sweets!

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Kenji kept the rabbits asleep, and I glanced every so often as the tireless work of Kagome. It was the middle of the night, yet she didn't sleep or even falter. I kept glancing at the scroll, but nothing changed.

"Why are you all still here?" Kagome spoke for the first time since that evening. "You are doing nothing but being a distraction."

"You aren't strong enough, Kagome," Kenji said softly.

"I don't have to be strong enough to overpower it. I just need to get it to reverse a bit. Usagi will fight. She always has fought for everyone and everything important to her. She will fight it with me if I can just get her the head start."

Kenji looked at Kagome and then Usagi sadly. "But you aren't getting anywhere. She isn't slipping away or declining, but she isn't getting any better. You can't keep this up forever. As soon as you stop, even a second, she will continue to get worse."

"Shut up!" Kagome yelled at him. Usagi gave a giant jolt at the same time that Kagome yelled, and her powers crackled audibly. Nothing changed, but my eyes went between the two women. "You don't understand. She is my family. I don't care that she isn't related by blood; she still is my family. I'm the reason she is here right now. Had I not let go, she would be in a modern hospital, getting probably the best care available. She wouldn't die so far from the rest of her family, with only a sister who isn't strong enough to save her to witness it! I can't protect her from anything!"

"How do you think I feel?" I asked though I didn't realize I said it out loud until Kagome turned her eyes on me in anger.

"What do you mean? You aren't her family!"

"What do I mean? I vowed to protect her. She trusted me to protect her. How many times have I failed in the last week?" I raked my claws through my hair and then gripped the strands and tugged. "It doesn't matter what I did; I kept failing her. I was the one she wanted to meet, and all I have been is a disappointment. She gets hurt, she cries, she ends up dying in the middle of a forest, and I can do nothing!" I flung the scroll from the fox demon out. "I have a scroll I can't read, which supposedly could save her!" Kagome and Kenji glanced at it then me. "Don't say a word. I know, I am useless. What do you expect me to do?"

Kagome stared at the picture on the scroll. "It is just a picture. How would that help?"

I shook my head at that. "Apparently, I am the only one able to see the blurry words hidden in it. It does no good, as it is blurry and unreadable."

"How do you make it not blurry anymore?" Kenji asked, picking it up.

I snorted. "My intentions aren't pure."

"They aren't." I glared at Kenji, who held up one hand. "I can read your eyes. You want her submission. You want her to belong to you. You like the way she sings, and you like the way she cares for the children. You like her size and the way she looked before this. You like the taste of her blood, and you like how she fits against you. Is any of that pure?" I tried to think about how to counter what he said.

"Sesshomaru," Kagome said softly, staring at her sister, "you wouldn't keep her. If the right demoness came along, you would leave Usagi in an instant."

"No."

"Yes, you would. The right demoness who could give you the proper heirs, and you would leave in an instant."

"No. I will take no other while she is alive."

"Which is what? A few decades? Big deal. That is nothing to you." I snarled at her. "Shut up, Sesshomaru. You know I'm right. So, what does that really mean? Loyal for a short while, but she will be forgotten in an even shorter time. She would give you everything if you asked. That is who she is. But you wouldn't do the same. If you asked her today to go back to see your father, she would go willingly even if it meant her life if she could help you in any way."

Kagome flinched but didn't back down from my snarl. "I won't forget her!" It sounded ripped from my throat, and I knew my eyes were red. Kagome must have gotten brave, or she must have been too upset by Usagi's current state, but she didn't look away. "I don't know what happens, but I could never fully forget her."

"Give me some proof then. I think she is expendable to you. You have a vision of her in your mind, but you don't really know her."

"I want to know her."

"Forget it. You lost your chance. When she survives, I'm taking her home."

"No."

"Why? Because you own her?"

"No!"

"Because you want to put her in a cage and make her your slave? Force her to do whatever you need her to do?"

"No, she can do whatever she wants. I won't force her to do anything."

"Then why would you want to get to know her?"

"Because!"

"Because why!"

"Because she is precious to me!" I threw my hand out, and the tree next to me fell to the floor. I realized my whip acted on its own again. "If I could save her, even if it meant I would never see her again, don't you think I would? There isn't a human like her anywhere! There could never be a human like her! Not to me! I don't care about having full-blooded heirs! I'd take half-demons or quarter-demons, or even fully-human children! If she wants to adopt the rabbit children, I'd claim them as my own!"

"Sesshomaru!" Kenji yelled, his arms thrown in a wide above his head holding trees for several feet around me up. I didn't care. None would fall on Usagi or the children she cared about. Kagome was looking around and back at me, and the smell of her fear was repulsive instead of enjoyable like it was on the battlefield.

"If the cursed scroll would tell me how to save her, I would save her and then get her away from this! My father would never find either of you because I would personally send you through the well back to your own time, where it sounds much safer! I obviously can't protect either of you! I'd send you to Inuyasha if I could because he seems to be better at protecting the woman he loves than I can!" I felt my blood flowing from my claws cutting into my hands and ran my hands through my hair and tugged so hard I knew some had to have been ripped out, but I didn't care. I went to my knees and stared at Usagi. "What right do I have to even ask her to stay no matter what she makes me feel for her when I can't go a day without destroying her smile or happiness or seem to give her any real happiness without her having to demand or force my hand to give it to her? I should know to give her what she wants, but I have no idea how to handle being around a human, and I can't even claim to be able to understand everything she does. I want to, but it wasn't how I was raised. I've cursed it for days. Had I known anything, I might have been trustworthy enough for her to tell me what this was so we could combat it. I want so badly to understand, but now I never will. I just want her to live. I want the scroll to tell me how to save her, even if it kills me."

Kenji pushed the trees away, and the ground shook, and it was painfully loud. I didn't care. My ears could ring and bleed, and it would be nothing compared to what Usagi was going through. I heard Kenji moving, but didn't look up as he came near me. He held the rolled scroll out to me. "If you love her, really love her, read the scroll and save her. Even if it costs your life, too many humans, demons, and gods need her to survive and end this. Live if you can, because she would probably destroy herself either way if you died. That's just who she is. Save her and save everyone else who would be in pieces over her death."

I stared at the scroll but didn't take it. Kagome was right; I didn't have fully pure intentions. I may want to know more about her and care about her more than I cared about my family, and I may want her to complete her mission, but I wasn't good enough. I never would be. I would still want her by my side if I could have her. I still would want her to be round with my pups someday. I would want to see her in a fancy court kimono taking on demons with her brain rather than a sword and watching everyone realize she was brilliant like I knew she was. I would also want to see her on a battlefield taking on demons who thought she was weak only to see her spill their blood, and then I could lick her face clean from the blood of her skillful kills. I would want to see her curled into my arms as she slept against me while on patrol. I would want to see her calm the raging crowds in a human village and talk peace and protection and rally the West into the strongest in Japan. I would want to be smart enough and a good enough protector and a good enough provider that she would choose to stay with me over any other option she was presented. I wanted to love her and be the one she loved, but the truth was I would never be good enough for her.

"Take it, Sesshomaru. Glare at it until it submits." I glanced at Kagome after she spoke, unsure if my glare was even enough. Nothing else about me was enough. She was too precious a woman for my filthy claws to touch. "Take it!"

I grabbed the scroll and unrolled it. It was the same. I didn't know what it wanted. I glared at it nonetheless.

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Author's Note: To make a note for those who are screaming, "OC OC!" at me, is it OC or is it something you've never seen? Again, timeline darlings! It all will loop around. There is a reason to everything I do, and we will come full circle eventually. How long is eventually? Who knows? I've not even connected back in where I am some hundreds of pages ahead. Hundreds of pages you say? I don't do small stories buttercups! We are here for a while! I'll be spending a good portion of time tomorrow on trying to get a step closer to connecting. If you want to know how many hundreds, I'm well over 300, actually just shy of 400, and haven't connected back to where we even started this at!

For non-avid fanfic readers, this goes out to you. Just because Sesshomaru admitted something, it does not make 1+1=2. Right now we are still at 1 + Apple + Cucumber + Fairy = ? Oh no, I can't make it that easy! We aren't past page 72 yet! This is the warm-up lap still sweets!

For all the avid readers, now we are questioning things. I've been throwing hints every chapter of what is to come. Are you all finding them? Feel free to take guesses! And no, there is almost never just one hint.

To you, who has been sending multiple asks if things are a hint, I appreciate the feedback, but who am I to spoil it? This is enough of a spoil no? If you must have one more, ask yourself this then: How many kami are in the jewel?

Off I go to the next chapter. My beta has gotten lost somewhere or fell asleep. It might be tomorrow for chapters 29 and 30 at this rate.


	26. Chapter 26

Author's Note: Have at it skippers!

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Sometime around early morning, my eyes started to blur. Kagome kept her vigil over her sister, pouring her power into the smaller woman. I glanced at the lightening of the sky. Kenji, at some point, had sat next to me and stared at the scroll as well. I put my head in my hand with a sigh.

A tiny hand lightly touched my head. I snapped it up to find Anthony looking at me, trying not to cry. I glanced at the asleep Kenji next to me. "Yes?" I asked him softly.

"In something I understand," he rasped out, clearly unused to using the demon tongue in his humanoid skin.

I nodded. "Usagi isn't doing well."

"I am not blind."

"Of course, you aren't. You aren't weak either since no one else has woken up." The child nodded. "She was poisoned, probably a few weeks ago, but I don't know when to be certain."

"What can we do?"

I held up the scroll. "This may have an answer, but I can't read it."

Anthony picked it up and turned it in circles several times. "Have you tried multiple angles? Not just the normal way to read it?"

"No." I took it back and turned it around. It helped fractionally. "Slightly better. Any other ideas?"

He shrugged and sat next to me. "Mama said that sometimes being smart is about having the right people around to give you the answers."

"That's very wise."

He nodded again, then looked it over. He put his nose to it, taking a deep breath. He jerked it away and held it back to me. "It stinks." I sniffed it myself and jerked back as well. From the distance of even a few inches, there was no smell but that of inks and parchment. But up close, it smelled foul. I agreed with the boy. "It smells kind of like medicine."

"Similar, but not the same," I told him.

"It smells like the room they mix the medicine in then."

I had to agree with that. "That, or a potions room."

"Yeah," Anthony agreed. We sat in silence for a while as I tried to puzzle out the new information. Finally, Anthony lightly touched my hand. "I didn't say it. Victor might know." I nodded that I heard him, and he stood to go to Victor.

It took several minutes to wake Victor, but he came willingly back with Anthony. "I need a strategist mind."

"Why not wake my father?"

"Because I thought you might know more and were less likely to try and kill Kagome, who is trying to save Usagi."

After a moment, Victor sat next to me with Anthony on his other side. "This is a test. It holds words. I can almost see it when I turn it around for a brief moment. Otherwise, it is too blurry to read. Anthony discovered a smell. What do you think?" I held it out to the small child.

He took it and looked it over, turning it several different ways before smelling it. He didn't flinch back as either Anthony or I had. Instead, he kept his nose to it, moving it over the entire thing. "The ink on top is fake."

I stared at him, confused. "Explain."

"The ink on top isn't the ink you need to look at."

"You can't just wash ink off of parchment like you can your hand," Anthony said with a humph.

"Yes, certain inks you can, with the right medium."

I had never heard of this. "Victor, the fox female said that only someone with strong taiyokai blood could read it."

He nodded, thinking it over. "Anything else?"

"She said I had to have pure intentions to read it."

Victor sat quietly for several long minutes. "Is there any intention more pure than willing to risk everything to get an answer?" I hadn't thought of that.

"How would I do that? How would I risk everything? Is it a form of magic? Will it know if I give up everything?"

Victor shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I think it means you'll need to risk everything, including the scroll if we are wrong, to get your answer."

This time it was my turn to sit quietly and think. If he was right, then I was wasting time. If he was wrong, then Usagi's only chance was lost. But her time was running short either way. Her sister would not last for days while I grasped at what may be out of reach. And if the sister failed, I may have only hours to save her before she was gone. It either was, trust the children Usagi cared for, or run out of time and fail either way. "What do I do?"

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Author's Note: For the next few chapters, the playlist in my mind was the song, "Crack an egg on your head, let the yolk run down, let the yolk run down." But a little more gruesome version with blood instead of yolk. Some people got a kick out of hearing that when I told them, but I'm not sure why. Please don't hate me for telling you if that didn't give you a kick too! Look, I'm even going to post a new chapter in a moment to make up for it!


	27. Chapter 27

Author's Note: See? New chapter! Promised, didn't I?

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I didn't know what they were doing. They were talking in grunts and groans. I tried to ignore them and focus on my sister. Everyone was right. I wasn't overcoming anything or giving Usagi a head start at all. I was simply prolonging the inevitable. I was a failure, and there was nothing I could do but keep trying what was failing.

"Kagome." I turned towards the sound of Sesshomaru's voice above me. He held out a knife to me. I backed away from it. "I need you to infuse your Miko powers into the knife and cut me deeply. Deep enough that I won't heal quickly, to the bone, if you can." I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Why?"

"I may have found a solution to the scroll. Victor and Anthony had ideas." I glanced back towards where the two boys were sitting.

"You could bleed to death, or I could purify your arm off," I hissed at him.

I watched him nod. "Yes, and if it works to save Usagi, then that is what I will do."

I stared at him, looking for signs of insanity. "Why?"

"Because I can't even pretend or try to be good enough for her if I'm unwilling to risk a Miko purifying my arm off or a knife wound, be it deep or not, to my arm." He pushed the knife closer to my hand. "Please."

My eyes went wide. I'd never heard him beg like this. He was asking me to possibly kill him to save my sister. If by some crazy twist of events, he found the way to save Usagi, but I had killed him in doing so, Usagi would never forgive herself. She would forgive me, but not herself. "Do you even know what you are asking?" He nodded.

Before I could think about it, I grabbed the knife and slashed his arm nearly into two halves. I dropped the knife and put my hand back on Usagi, not looking at Sesshomaru. I couldn't look at his face or see the arm again. I had to focus on my sister, or I would throw up and pass out.


	28. Chapter 28

Author's Note: Well, getting to this now. My beta "woke up" and we worked on 29 and 30, and I forgot about 28. Oopsie! Here you are! So sorry!

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The scream was caught in my throat. I let it sit there and burn at me as my arm burned. I stood up after a moment and went back to Victor and Anthony. Anthony looked away from my arm, but Victor grabbed it and ripped it open even more, squeezing blood across the spread-out scroll. I'd never been hurt by a Miko like this and never wanted to again. It didn't help that it was being ripped at, and my blood was being forced out. Blood coated the scroll, but it was only starting to eat through the fake ink. I dug my free claws into the ground and let my voice be choked and caught in my throat. I was battle-trained and had been injured in my fair share of fights, but this was an entirely different level of pain.

Victor squeezed what must have been a river of blood from my arm by the time it had eaten through the ink. I stared at the scroll, trying to clear my vision enough to read it. Anthony held something that was meat towards my good hand, trying to distract me from everything, and Victor instructed me to eat it as he wrapped my arm in bandages. It didn't help much. The blood soaked through as Victor squeezed at my arm, trying to stop the blood. I ate the meat and focused my vision. I had lost almost too much blood. If I didn't get the cure to Usagi as quickly as possible, we both might be gone from the world instead of just me.

Because I could read it. It was a map to a forest, and there was a riddle about finding what I assumed was a tree. "Watch your mother. Protect her until I get back." Anthony and Victor nodded, and I took off as fast as I could towards the location on the map. It was one that I knew, though not well, deep in my father's lands. I now was in a race again time for far too many things for my liking. For my death, for Usagi's death, for Kagome's strength giving out, for the power of the foxes to hold, too many.

* * *

Author's Note: Hopefully, my beta can get to finishing 29 and 30 with me today. He has class, so I have no idea if it will be today or tomorrow. Meanwhile! I'll be writing and working on this after I finish some work on other projects today.


	29. Chapter 29

Author's Note: Hello my dears... I'm not giving much intro here in my note. My note at the end of 30 is important, so please read before you wonder where 31 is at.

* * *

I stared at my sister, knowing from Victor that they had successfully read the scroll, and Sesshomaru had lost a great deal of blood to do so and that Sesshomaru was off to find the cure. At this point, I was telling myself every story in my head, every song I knew was being sung in there, and I was fighting staying awake. It wasn't just a drain on me to stay awake; it was the force I was fighting the miasma poisoning with.

I knew Usagi wasn't getting better, but she wasn't getting worse. Sesshomaru needed to hurry up before I purified him to death in exhaustion while he tried to help Usagi. The rabbits stayed close, never moving too far. The rabbit diplomat didn't come too close to Usagi. I noticed him pounding his fist into the ground a few times, but he hadn't said a word in a long time. When he had woken up, the children had to stop him from attacking me. The children tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't answer any of them.

It was around noon, and Maria was cooking the last bit of food we had. Without their father getting more, we were out of food. He was in no state to go hunting, though. Maria hand-fed me the food, so my hands never left Usagi.

After lunch, I heard the twang of a bowstring and ducked on instinct. The children all snapped to attention and moved closer to either Usagi and me or their father. Their father was standing and looking angrily towards the tree line, and several dozen guards stepped out with weapons drawn.

"We don't want to hurt the children," a guard said, stepping forward. "We just want those two women. Let us take them peacefully, and no harm will come to you or your children." It had been too long, and the charms from the foxes had worn off. We were visible as ourselves and easily identified. In my half-asleep state, I hadn't even thought of it.

I kept trying to focus on Usagi, but I didn't know how deep the diplomat's ties would run for Usagi or myself. He believed Usagi was the reincarnation of his mate. I didn't think they had mated from what I understood now of mating, but he was determined that Usagi was his mate reborn. It did me little good knowing how far he would go to protect either of us. I wasn't in much shape to battle so many guards, and Sesshomaru was nowhere to be seen.

"No, she is my mate. You will not take her or her sister from their family without a fight."

The guard sighed. "You are outnumbered. All we need is to capture one child. You will see she is just another human in the face of your child's death. Her sister, you have no ties to. She looks nearly dead anyway." The rabbit snarled and jumped forward into the guards. He apparently didn't like being reminded of Usagi's current state.

It was over it seemed before it started. He was forced to the ground in less than ten seconds, and two of his children had been captured. "Let them go!"

"We will. They will live. If you give up, we will only take the women, and the rest of you can go unharmed. I don't want to start a war with the mainland. I will if I need to, but I'd prefer to do this the kind way. You've given me every reason to kill you. I don't want that, and you don't want that."

"What will happen to them?" the diplomat asked softly.

The guard gave a soft smile. "The sister will simply be beheaded. The spy, should she live to make it back, will get what all the spies receive." I didn't know what it was, but the diplomat must have had some idea, and it must have been bad. He threw off the guards holding him and darted towards his children. He freed them, and he stood protectively in front of us.

There must have been a second line we didn't see. It rained arrows, striking the diplomat down. He attempted to rip a few out but gave up after the third. He glanced at me, and blood was dripping from his mouth already.

"Can you form a barrier? Just to protect all of you?"

I'd never formed one consciously, the one at the fox den having been on instinct too, but I tried. I was weakened, but I tried to use everything I knew. He stepped away from us, trying to defend as best as he could until I could figure out something I had never been able to do. It was weak, but it was a barrier just as more arrows rained down. Some of the boys watched as their father attempted to sit up again but failed and fell back down. The girls were all looking away, along with some of the boys.

It took a great effort, but I heard him cough and then what was probably his last words. "Protect yourselves and your mother and aunt. Trust Sesshomaru's protection." The children all gave a broken-voiced answer of understanding and acceptance. "I love you all. Sorry I failed." The children were sobbing, and I knew I was too.

The guard sighed, matching timing with the death rattle of the rabbit diplomat. "That didn't go well. Come, girl, that barrier won't hold long. Give yourself up, and I'll see to it that the children make it home safe and sound. None of the children need to die too."

I weighed my options. I knew the barrier wouldn't last for more than a few minutes. I knew I was dead either way. I doubted that they had any medicine strong enough to save Usagi, and I doubted she would last the trip back. At least, I hoped she would die on the way instead of facing whatever had driven a demon to die trying to stop. I knew Usagi would rather the children be safe and be tortured than have any of them hurt. I wasn't happy about knowing I'd be decapitated. I looked at Anthony, who looked defiant. He most reminded me of Shippou. I knew I would drop the shield.

"They all make it home, unharmed."

"No," Anthony snarled angrily at me.

"Anthony," I said softly in English. "I'd know I'd want you all safe. So would Usagi. Even if we die for it, we want you safe."

"And I said no! You drop it, I'll go fight them myself!"

"That would hurt Usagi if you got hurt."

He turned red eyes at me. "And I'd rather die fighting to protect my family as my father told me to than live knowing my mother and aunt died to save me!"

"Baby," I said softly, "even if by some way we all were able to fight them off if any of you got so much as a scratch Usagi would forever be hurt by it. That is if Usagi survives long enough even to wake up. Please, let our last act be to save you all. That would make Usagi proud."

I watched him fight his inner demon for about ten seconds before he was in his true form, somehow nearly double the size he had been before when I saw him. He was no longer the size of a Flemish giant, but if he were on his hind legs, he would have been my size if not bigger. I knew he lost the fight to be rational and was running on instincts now.

"Rabbit, calm yourself," the guard ordered. "They are just two humans. I don't know what she said to you, but you know they will die before you look even two years older."

I was not prepared for Anthony to charge through the barrier like it wasn't there. I yelped in fear of his slightly smoking self as he stood protectively in front of the barrier.

There was a yell from behind where the archers must have been, and then the entire force was trying to regroup as some were thrown out of the way. Sesshomaru looked like a shell of himself. He was bloody, and his arm looked like it must have been hanging on from the amount of blood and lack of use. His eyes were red, and he looked ready to take on the whole army squad. He moved towards Anthony, who sniffed and then growled lowly. Sesshomaru growled back before moving next to Anthony, who didn't move to attack Sesshomaru.

"Lord Sesshomaru," the guard in charge said softly, "we didn't know you had been tracking the spy."

"She is no spy. Do you doubt this Sesshomaru's nose when she was presumed to be the spy?"

"No, we don't. But it is an order from Inu no Taisho to bring her and her sister back."

Sesshomaru turned his head towards me. "Keep the shield up and keep blocking the poison. I have the cure." I nodded, and then he moved into the guards faster than I had seen him move in this time. I couldn't even see which guard he was attacking or keep up with him. I saw the green acid whip moving rapidly from its glow, and bodies hitting the floor of the forest. Thankfully, Anthony had kept by us still protecting, but not fighting. It was less than a two-minute fight, and Sesshomaru flicked his whip at the last one. "Tell my father if he continues to believe she is a spy, he doubts his own son's word and nose. If he believes both are false, then he needs to come here and face me in person. I will litter the ground with every single guard he sends our way until he comes himself." The guard needed no word to run, for as soon as Sesshomaru finished speaking, he was already fleeing.

Sesshomaru took a deep breath then turned towards the body of the diplomat. He sighed and growled at Anthony. Anthony growled back, then was his humanoid self.

Sesshomaru stepped up to the barrier and smiled softly at me. "I found the cure. Drop the barrier."

"Have it ready. I'm going to pass out as soon as I drop the barrier. I don't even have the strength to separate the two right now."

"I am ready. Don't worry; I'll keep everyone safe until you wake up."

It was a relief. I let my powers rest, and it was such a burden from my shoulders. "Thank you," I whispered, then it was dark.


	30. Chapter 30

Author's Note: TRIGGER WARNING AT THE END! That's all I need to say for this one. 31 will have a large note for a tiny chapter.

* * *

I moved quickly, scooping Usagi into my arms and nearly biting off my tongue at the same time. I focused my youkai into the blood pooling in my mouth from the bite and bent my head to Usagi's mouth.

Her mouth opened willingly like she knew I was mouth feeding her medicine. She swallowed it without protest as I gave as much as I could give with how weak I was. I had promised to protect her. After she swallowed the blood, I wait the three minutes the tree had told me to wait. She just started to do what I was warned of, shaking uncontrollably, and I pressed my injured tongue to my fang and gum and forced the poison to run free. I filled my mouth with it, then once again mouth fed it to Usagi. This time, she tried to force it out of her mouth. I kept my mouth firmly sealed around her mouth so not to let it spill, then held her nose and forced her to swallow. I then pulled Usagi into my lap and held her tightly as my poison worked its way into her, and she fought me.

The tree has said to force my youkai into her through blood, then continue every week to do so. I had a few days to spare as a grace if I needed it, but she would be mine. As long as I lived and continued to give her my youkai through the catalyst of blood, she would age at the same speed, be able to heal herself, and more importantly right now, take my poison without fear of dying from it due to the matching youkai and blood in her system to protect her. My poison would kill the miasma poison and save her. At least, that is what the tree had said. I prayed he was right, and I hadn't just killed her. Whatever god wanted to listen, I prayed that she would survive this.

Usagi fought the force in her body for three hours before she calmed down, and I held her tightly in my arms the entire time. The children had either passed out from exhaustion or were lost in grief. Except for Anthony. He stayed up and kept vigil with me, even after Victor had fallen asleep some time ago. As she completely calmed down, I bit my tongue and started the process again. First, the youkai infused blood, followed by the poison. I wanted to scream as she again started to shake. It wasn't nearly as bad, but I held her tighter this time. I wasn't afraid of having killed her with it now. My poison would have killed her long ago if it wasn't working.

Almost two hours later, I did it once more when she was still for a full minute again. It was dark now, and those children who had been lost in grief now were asleep as well. Anthony continued to keep watch with me. "How do we know it is working?" he asked softly as Usagi shook in my arms.

"She would be dead now if it wasn't." Anthony nodded and seemed to accept this.

An hour and a half later, I did it once more. Anthony still kept watch. I peeled back part of her clothes and saw that where her skin from her hands was still blackened, the area around on her chest and heart was slowly clearing. "Anthony," I called, and motioned the boy forward. He looked at Usagi's chest before he broke out into a wide smile.

"You really did do it."

I nodded, and we resumed the watch. After half an hour this time, I dosed her once more. This time, to both my surprise and Anthony's, she didn't shake. I leaned back against the boulder and let myself relax. Usagi was going to be okay. I had made it in time for the children, her sister, and Usagi. Not for the diplomat, and part of me was glad, and the other part was saddened for the children. I knew it would haunt Usagi for a time, as well.

I let everyone sleep through the night, but Anthony didn't. He kept his tireless watch over his family with me. Victor woke with the sun and looked ashamed at having fallen asleep. "Sorry," was all he softly said. He got up and checked on the water supply, not bothering to check the food bag. I assumed it was empty from that.

"As soon as Usagi wakes up, I'll get food," I told the two boys trying not to show my guilt at how poorly prepared I had left them.

"I'm more worried about mother," Victor said with a sad note to his voice. "She hasn't eaten in days now."

It was if the mere mention of food woke Usagi's stomach, which rumbled loudly. She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, then turned into my shoulder, trying to hide from the sun. A few minutes later, she woke up with another groan. "My life for a toilet," she nearly screamed, jumping up and racing off without even a look at any of us.

I wanted to laugh. I realized she didn't go to the bathroom in days either. I stood and went to follow her if only to make sure she didn't stray too far. She had gone a decent distance but once again failed to realize how powerful my nose was, and I stayed a distance so she wouldn't feel embarrassed. The sound she made as she finished did have me laughing. It was of bliss, and she was walking back when she found me laughing. "What is so funny?"

I shook my head, trying to control my laugh. She threw her hand up and started walking the wrong direction back. I shook my head and grabbed her small hand, leading her back the proper way. She said nothing but didn't pull away. "It won't be a pleasant sight when you get back," I warned.

"The only pleasant sight right now would be you with enough meat from a kill to fill the black hole that is my stomach right now."

"What is a black hole?"

"A hole in space that sucks everything into it slowly, pulling it apart painfully, as well as slowing the normal flow of time in the area it exists in."

I pondered this a moment. It was too foreign to understand fully. "So, you are saying you are very hungry and could probably eat a bear yourself?"

"I don't know about all by myself eating a whole bear. But I would eat a good portion of it."

I smirked. I could provide three bears in an hour if that is what would make her happy. It may be showing off a bit, but even with how tired I was, I wanted to push myself to please her.

Usagi yelped, and I instantly turned towards her. She grabbed the arm that had been cut before I left and yanked the sleeve up. I noticed her fingers were still dark as charcoal, yet she was trying to force them to work to get the bandages on my arm off. "I'm fine," I tried to assure her. She didn't listen and pulled the bandages off. I wasn't prepared that there was no healing on my arm yet. It had stopped bleeding, but that was it. She was crying, trying to say something I didn't understand through the tears. "Please, don't cry. I'm fine."

Usagi grabbed her hair and pulled, and I pulled her hands away carefully from her hair. I held her to me as she cried, and she clung tightly. If she was this upset about my arm, I couldn't imagine how she was going to react to the multiple bodies I hadn't had time to clear, including the diplomat. After a minute, her legs gave out, and I held her up, making sure she knew I was strong enough still to protect her by holding her up.

"What happened while I was asleep?"

"Usagi, you weren't asleep. You were dying." She shook her head no, defiantly. "Don't lie. You were dying. We all were watching you die, and your sister was trying to keep you alive. Her sheer willpower kept her awake and strong enough long enough that I could find out how to save you and then get back to save you."

"How were you hurt?"

I debated lying. I knew she was going to hurt a great deal more if I wasn't the one to tell her. "Victor found a way to read something that told us where to go to find out how to save you. It required Kagome to cut my arm so that I could use the blood to destroy the protective ink covering what we needed to know."

"Kagome, cut you?" I nodded. "Then she could have purified you! She infuses her reki into things like that!" Usagi flipped my arm over and inspected the wound. "That's funny."

"What is funny?"

"It tingles." She touched along the sides of the wound, not willing to touch the wound itself. On the third time she touched it, her fingers were pink and grew pinker as she pulled her them down my arm. When she lifted her fingers away, she tried to wave the pink color off. It vanished as she waved her hand. She did it to the other side as well. She watched fascinated as the skin started to knit back together slowly. She bit her lip, then touched the inside of the wound. I hissed, but it turned into a hiss of relief as the burn I didn't notice was still there fully lifted with her finger. The wound started to heal in the center as well.

"What did you do?"

She shrugged. "I think you had something stuck on it."

"No, you just pulled the remaining reki out of the wound."

She stared at the arm in fascination as she watched it slowly healing. "Do they all heal this fast?" I nodded. "Lucky."

"Lucky you were able to remove it."

She sighed. "What else happened? Are we in a different place then?"

"No, same as before. I went alone to find your cure. I left the diplomat and children with you and Kagome. I only just made it back in time to save Anthony from a suicide mission."

"What?" she breathed out in fear.

I sighed. "My father sent a squadron after us. I couldn't save everyone in time." I hardly finished the words before she was running towards the camp. I caught her just as she reached the camp, tears rolling down her face as she did a headcount of the children. I knew from her ashen face she had seen the diplomat's body riddled with arrows. She was turned away from the ravaged bodies of the squadron that I had ripped into in fear for her safety and most were mutilated. Anthony crashed into her, and she hugged him fiercely to her.

She was scolding him in English, but I didn't care about what she was saying. Her scent was fearful at something that had already happened, and he was safe from, and he was arguing in English at her. They argued back and forth about two minutes before she pulled back and wobbled.

I pulled her into my lap, and she willingly went. "Usagi, you are probably not going to like what I'm about to do at first." She nodded sleepily. "You need this. It will help heal you. Can you do what you need to and keep healing so that Anthony isn't placed in the same situation as before?" I didn't know what she knew of what happened, but I knew she was at her limit.

"I'll take the medicine, but then I need to bury their father and find a way to make a gravestone for him."

I smiled softly. "I'll make sure he is buried and gets a gravestone. I need you to just swallow both things without thinking too much. You need to rest some more. I'll bring back that bear for you while you sleep."

"I can't eat a whole bear by myself," she argued with me.

I brushed the hair from her face with just a claw, better than the finger, and cupped her cheek. "I'll still bring it, just in case." She nodded, and I bit my tongue then mouth fed it to her again. She froze, then tried to pull away. I made sure she swallowed before pulling away. She tried to move away from me, coughing and gagging. "Usagi," I said pulling her closer to me, "it was infused with my youkai. It lets you take my poison without dying to fight the poison in your body." She was softly crying, and it was painful. She was still trying to push away from me. "If it bothers you that much, once you are better, you don't have to do it again." She nodded through her tears, and I understood that while she may not understand everything in what it meant, she was rejecting taking it. Even though she didn't know, it stung on a level I didn't know pain could reach me at. I tried to block everything out as I filled my mouth with my poison, and then mouth fed her again. This time when finished, I let her pull away. She curled up next to her sister, still crying. I stood and softly told Victor to keep watch. I would find the bears I promised I would so we could cook them while I buried the diplomat and made a gravestone. And then I would keep my distance for a while.

* * *

Author's Note: 31 is done. It is ready to go. But, as you can guess, it is personal and painful. My beta and I spent both a lot and very little time on it to edit it. It left me so drained that I hardly was able to eat dinner, despite my husband bringing one of my favorite take-out dinners home. I have a headache since that isn't like my normal migraines and not in a place my chronic migraine medicine can heal. I am exhausted, mentally and physically. I just want to bed. At the table I edit and post at (my trackpad is as useless as trying to put frozen butter on warm untoasted bread), my husband found me a shell of myself after finishing editing. But I need my husband to catch up to where we are. He works hard every day all day from before the sun rises until after it sets, so he is back near the start. He has promised to read. I need his support right now when I feel weak and pathetic for acting like this with the note you will get on chapter 32 to explain before I start 32. It explains a lot, and where we will take things. But I need him right now, so give him time to catch up. He gets through 400 pages in a book in a day. 80 pages should be nothing to him. Let him catch up so I have the support I need to go on. I am going to be okay. I know I am going to be okay, but right now I just need held for a bit.


	31. Chapter 31

Author's Note: Merry Christmas Eve. Sorry that I've been gone a while, but I guess that I needed time to build the courage to post this. It's Christmas Eve morning here, and I thought I'd send out a tiny early gift. Really, look how short! Maybe not so much a gift?

TRIGGER ALERT TO THE MAX! I debated how this should be written. I didn't want to fluff it. But after the third time I sit down to write it, I realized that I needed to cut the dialogue. IF you ask tomorrow if I get more up, I remember snippets or writing this one. It was too much with speaking, and I didn't want it taken down. This is even pushing it.

I'll be starting the next chapter with a long note and ending it with one. Sorry, but before I'm flamed I think it needs doing with a note. I'll hopefully be back in a few days, maybe tomorrow if I have time, to get another few chapters up. We are done through like 37, so should be able to get a few up. Might be busy eating fried chicken and strawberry cake. Happy Holidays! Hope to see you tomorrow if there is the time!

* * *

I slept fitfully. I remember the hard skin in my mouth, and the sour and salty liquid forcefully shot down my throat. I remembered having to swallow and never being allowed to pull away. No spitting it out or throwing up after. It came crashing back in a way it never had before. I woke with a start to Kagome's hand, shaking me.

I shot up and wrapped my arms around myself. I looked around for the man or one of the other men who frequently visited. I knew my breathing was too fast, but I couldn't stop it. I could tell Kagome was talking to me, but I couldn't hear it for the blood rushing in my ears.

I saw Kenji, but Sesshomaru had forced me to swallow, and Kenji might too. I tried to stand tall enough to block Kagome from him. Kenji's eyebrows shot up, and his eyes got wide. He was speaking, but I don't know what he was saying. I tried pushing Kagome away from him while keeping myself between them. Kenji's eyes got wider, and he took a step forward. On his second step he froze, and his eyes misted. My eyes snapped to Sesshomaru who was slowly walking forward. I was screwed. I was going to have to swallow again and again. Then the pain would come elsewhere. I was going to hurt again. Sesshomaru stopped in his advance, and his lips moved, but I still heard nothing.

And then I heard him. Tama-kun. His muffled scream from the closet to fight them. To not give up. I grabbed a fistful of my hair and sobbed. Kenji's eyes were spilling tears, and Sesshomaru looked livid. I just hoped Tama-kun stayed in the closet this time. We couldn't fight them. He would die again. He couldn't die again. Not for me.

I watched Kenji wave his hand, and the world went dark.


	32. Note About What Happened

Hello lovely readers.

It is with a heavy heart I have to write this. Christmas Eve at my parents' house, my father had a massive stroke. For several hours he was unable to talk, hardly able to walk, and his brother was over and he didn't want to ruin Christmas Eve. So he refused to go to the doctor. He is elderly, and for almost two months it was touch and go with his recovery. I had to drive him to multiple doctors weekly, and it was trying to coordinate with my mother what I needed to do for my daddy.

Then covid-19 hit. I contracted the virus, and several weeks were a struggle. I got back on my feet, but the state shut down. I was confined to the house. I wrote. But my beta had disappeared. He had his own covid-19 issues. After much time, we got back together to try and pick it back up. We had to have him re-read to find where we left off, had a creative argument, and were getting close to getting new chapters out. But then my father had another stroke.

More time was spent at doctors, and then my mother had an issue when daddy looked like he was in the clear. My mama has degenerative arthritis, and she couldn't walk. Today, she had to have a third injection. It basically is a new hip and knee that she needs. But they aren't doing the surgery currently due to covid-19. So my mother had to try to adapt to this. Which means I run for groceries. I take over her animals. I do house work. And she lives an hour away. So it was convert my house for her animals. And re-adjust my life for the last six months. I'm back to writing, and a lot farther in the book, but I've got no beta. He is on at random times, and being four time zones over, it is a struggle. I don't want to lose Wolfie as my beta. But I know you all are waiting for the next chapter. I've messaged him to try and start again.

On the plus side, I finally got someone to teach me to YouTube to get a playlist going. I've been building it tonight. Now it won't have the chapters done so far with the music with them and what song it is. No, sorry. But they are in order! Now since I'm writing this in English, I've tried to keep as many songs in English as possible, or add one with translated lyrics on the screen for the Japanese songs. I don't own any of the songs, lyrics, or even the videos attached so far. But you can hear the playlist soon! I'll be posting a link to it as soon as I am able to get to where we are built. I've had rotten luck finding the edition of one song that I've been listening to for the playlist. I honestly think it was taken down. If I can go ahead and find it, I will add it and try to post the playlist tonight for you all. Otherwise, I need to find one close. But is it 2:50 in the morning here, and I do need sleep. I'll do my best to get it later this evening after this goes up, or in hopefully a little over 12 hours from now.

Meanwhile, if I have to spam Wolfie's phone, I am ready to do it. If I need a new beta, I'll post for one and we will once again be back to my crap writing till then without a beta. Trust me, you will appreciate Wolfie once you see how bad it is without a beta. That and the college I went to no longer gives free subscriptions to Grammarly, so that's an issue too... I'll have to see if I have the money for it myself.

Please look forward to the playlist tonight if I can get it up. If not tonight, I do have to take daddy to a doctor today, it will be the next day. Now, off to spam Wolfie's phone!


	33. Chapter 32

Author's Note: Okay, so I'll explain part of why this chapter is how it is at the bottom. It will seem terribly convenient. But it is not. There is a reason why the kami we need just happens to be the one we know.

I'll be laying out a small list of what is to come after the note at the bottom. My beta and I had to spend nearly 4 hours with this chapter alone, due to the fact so very much goes on here that well, won't be clear for some time. It's another, what-is-foreshadowing-in-this-chapter game!

* * *

I watched Kagome holding her sister, sobbing at things she had not known about and now did. The things that plagued her sister but apparently were never spoken. Kagome rocked Usagi back and forth, clinging to her tightly. Kenji was on his forearms and knees, sobbing as well.

Usagi's words rang in my head. I don't think she heard a word we said or knew she was speaking. I felt vile and worse than shit on the bottom of my shoe. I couldn't think of doing it to her again with knowing what I did now. Yet, I had to. I had to keep destroying her mind to heal her body. She was going to always fear me after this. In saving her, I had lost her all the same. The words bounced around, repeating themselves. I took her from Kagome and fed her my blood and my poison again, hating myself every second. I tried to push more than the other times so I wouldn't have to do it again. When I finished, I passed her back to Kagome.

I would find a way to remember, to live long enough to kill the man she spoke of before this happened to her. I would save her friend Tama-kun. I didn't care about some line. I was going to break it, so she didn't suffer like she was now.

Kenji slowly sat up and moved towards the sleeping girl he had knocked out. "Kagome," he sobbed softly, "I need your permission as her sister to break her mind. I can't have your mother's permission, so I need yours."

"What do you mean to break her mind?"

He smiled softly. "I'm in charge of memories. I can essentially erase her mind from before she found you. Tell me how far back to go, and everything before will be gone. That includes her family, and her knowledge of possible living demons. I'll need to take it all. That's why I need your permission. I won't know where to start if she doesn't know how old she is. If I break it at the wrong point, she could remember still. She can't remember. I can't live knowing she has that in her mind. We will get any information we need another way."

"I know so little of her past," Kagome said softly around a sniffle. "What will I tell her of her time before she came to live with us?"

"Anything that is a happy story. Give her parents a glorious hero's death, tell her you are her relatives that have taken care of her since her parents died when she was young. I don't care so long as it is happy. She will be very confused at not remembering. Anything attached to those memories will seem strange. She will remember having freaked out, but not why. Call it a dream or nightmare or whatever you need to. But I need you to tell me it is okay to break her mind like this. I have no idea where I am that I don't stop it from happening. Maybe I can't. I can't live with this. Let me break her mind to dust she can't reform, so all she remembers is time with you."

Kagome hugged Usagi tightly, rocking her back and forth. The fox alpha female was right. She couldn't accept anyone. She was destined to be alone if she kept the memories. I didn't want a chance at the cost of her memories of her first family. I didn't know how forgetting would change her. But she couldn't be allowed to keep those memories. I assumed she didn't want them either. I had no say. I had no right. I hopped Kagome agreed all the same.

"Break it," came Kagome soft voice as she rocked her sister a few more times before handing her to Kenji. "From February seventeenth in the afternoon in the year two thousand and five and before."

Kenji held Usagi tightly. "I am so sorry little one. I don't know why I wasn't there. But I'll fix it now." Kenji put his thumbs on Usagi's temples, then cracked his forehead into hers. I turned away. I couldn't watch and saw that neither could Kagome. Kenji cracked their foreheads sixteen times before he handed Usagi back to her sister. Kagome held her, sobbing and shaking as she held her little sister as close to her body as possible, whispering her sadness and how sorry she was over and over.

Kenji leaned against a tree crying again. He had stopped, but something he did, or saw maybe, triggered him to cry again. I was not very knowledgeable on kami or their powers to know. I don't think any of the children fully understood what just happened. I was at least grateful for that. "It may be minutes or hours before her brain registers enough damage to wake her up. It is trying to heal what it doesn't fully know how to heal. Think up the happiest story you can for her until she wakes up."

I watched the sister nod and bite her lip as she dove deep into her mind to find a happy story. I know I would have to dig very deeply to find something happy with what was bouncing around in my mind.

* * *

Author's Note: Okay, so why did I make a big stink about trigger warnings when I was taking it all away? Remember, this started as a healing piece. The previous parts were written 8 months prior to this chapter. In fact, 3 hours after I spilled my guts to a page on Word, I got into a nasty car accident. It was my second concussion in a short time frame, and I woke up in the hospital to my mom running in to a male doctor touching me and my mom freaking out. My mom was not freaking out over the fact I got hurt. She was freaking out because I was supposed to be freaking out over the male doctor in the room, let alone touching me. After more testing, we found I had no memory of my rape and kidnapping. I was missing two years with only bits and pieces I remembered, and then two years before that I was only missing chunks of memory. But I had memories that I couldn't access. Like how to do a detailed braid with multiple hair pieces and wear a kimono. Or I could cook things when the most I got before was a toaster. Or that I had a nasty fear of thunder storms, worst of thunder and lightning together. I also feared fire to a great extent. It was muscle memory. Because I can't remember a name or face or what happened, doesn't mean I don't have things like scars, or things from those years that if I'm not thinking a great deal I can do that I can't when I try to do them. The one piece that I believe I know, is whoever he was, he's dead according to DNA testing, he wore a short trimmed goatee. That still makes my heart beat faster. Like only shadow in the shape of a goatee.

Okay, I promised that I would give you a hint as to where we are going. Usagi lost her visual memories. She did not lose muscle memories. But there has to be something as a side effect. Please note, this 50k-ish words only gets you a week and a half heading to two weeks. We have three years people. For Ark 1. Yes, freeze, Ark 1? Ark 1 is the longest. Followed by Ark 2 which we get Inuyasha and the gang back for, back in the time we know and love. Ark 2 is followed by Ark 3, which is hovering close to the same size as Ark 2, but getting longer by the day. Ark 3 is lovingly nicknamed "Learning". Ark 4 is Conclusion, and less than 2 and 3, but decent. Ark 5 is Aftermath, and the shortest, and takes place from 1900-2015, we bounce forward in chunks. So to sum it up, what's written? Well, this gets us to page... 88 in Word of Ark 1, which is up to 500 some pages so far and I'm not done with year 2. We also have 300 some pages in Ark 2 done, just shy of 300 in Ark 3, Ark 4 is an outline consisting of basic chapters and what each is at about 50 pages, but again OUTLINE, and I've hardly got anything done on Ark 5. You just paused. I get it. How do I have parts of each done? Well, I'm going back and forth. It all is like a giant web. But yes, you counted that right, 1150 pages. This is only to 88.

Where was I? Oh yes, you have yet to get all the history. We have about 30 more chapters to start diving into the meat of the story. If you wanted something short, stop now. Fanfiction is going to need to create a new word count thing for this. I don't do small. I don't do boy meets girl, boy likes girl, girl likes boy back, they jump in bed, and happy ever after. That isn't real. If you've read to this point, you want real. No rose colored glasses. Maybe need a bottle of rose wine. So you get real. Doesn't mean we won't have a character try to force on some rose glasses.

Now there will be a break, a month or so provided nothing more happens with my family, between the arks to just relax and write at a decent pace. I knew you wanted a chapter. I was up all night to get you this. When my beta wakes up, I'll be seeing if he is up for chapter 33. Chapter sizes will bounce. Now, off I go to get dressed, get coffee, and try and remember what I need to do today besides write which is all I want to do. That, or build the playlist. Work in progress. Hopefully the therapy office got their wifi working again...


	34. Chapter 33

Author's Note: Hello darlings! What, didn't expect me back so soon? I said this afternoon! Well, surprise, here we are! Chapter 33. Dive a little into Inu-culture here. Go have some fun!

* * *

Usagi didn't move until well into the evening. She sat up and held her head. I brushed her hair away from her face with my hand and asked one of the children for a brush. One of the girls handed it to me, and I turned my sister around to brush her hair.

"Do you remember when we were little, and you use to fight me when I wanted to try and tame this hair?"

Usagi looked confused from what I could see of her face, and I held my breath to see if what Kenji did had worked. "Why would I fight you? You have the best control of it."

I laughed. It was true. "Do you know how many times I nearly had to pin you to the floor to try and get your hair brushed after a bath? It took forever for you to trust me with your hair."

Usagi shook her head. "I don't believe you. I don't remember ever fighting you to brush my hair. I like it when you brush my hair."

I knew her memories were gone now. I decided to change tactics mid-test. I had a new, better story than what I first thought of. Sesshomaru had saved my sister, and I would give him an opening as a reward. I had no idea if he would take it, but I would give him a chance. "Do you remember me telling you about trying to brush Inuyasha's hair?"

"Wench! Stop trying to tug my hair out! Don't touch it! Watch the friggin' ears!"

"Oh, would you stop being a big baby and just let me get the garbage out of it at least? Really Inuyasha, it would be so pretty with it clean and untangled."

"I ain't the bastard! I don't wanna look like a fucking princess!"

Usagi had picked up Inuyasha so perfectly, and being able to have my play-fights with a person who seemed to get him so well had helped me so long. I decided now was the time for Sesshomaru's opening. "Usagi, you know why he fought me, right? Did I tell you why he was so serious about his hair?"

"No. Tell me now."

"Because, in inu culture, hair is precious. Only a mate or mother can touch a female's hair. Males are slightly different. A mother is allowed to touch a male's hair only until he finds his intended mate or until a certain age. Mates bond over hair brushing to an extent. It is very intimate. Though there are rare times that a male will touch a female's hair. Usually it is a great personal sacrifice for the female to let a male touch her hair. It is done as a sign of the highest respect for something not easily given." I let it stew in Usagi's mind as I continued to brush.

After a minute, she didn't disappoint. "When did Inuyasha start letting you brush his hair?"

"Letting me brush it? Letting me touch it at all!" I gave a small laugh at the memory. "We had just had a major fight. You know, Kikyo." I watched my sister nod. "Well, he came through the well while I was at school. He asked my mother for some money, and I doubt that was easy for him and went to a beauty shop."

I heard Usagi snicker. "Let me guess, a boy in a beauty shop did not go well."

"Not at all," I agreed. "They tried to sell him so many products. He needed me to pick him up from a bench out front, though I had no idea why at the time. They had kept trying to touch his hair, grabbing it a few times. It apparently was horrifying beyond what I can understand. He walked close to me with his bag, and I took him back to the house. He took a long bath then came back in my room. He held out that bag looking red as can be. I looked inside and found a brush. He asked me if I could brush his hair. I had no idea what to say. He noticed my confusion and told me that he felt dirty with so many wrong hands on his hair, and he needed me to fix it. I didn't know what to do besides brush it. I had enough experience with you and your bird's nests to know how to start working the knots out. And the number of knots! He put you to shame, sister."

"That's hard to believe."

"You at least brush it as often as possible. I don't think his hair had seen a brush in years."

"That sounds painful."

I shook my head with a laugh. "He didn't say a word for a while as I brushed. He just relaxed more and more as I brushed. Then he told me for the first time what it meant to brush his hair, though not in a great many words. I understood what he was saying with it, though. I brushed his hair until it had a shine to it, and it was magical. He ran his claws through it and smiled at me and thanked me. It was completely out of character for Inuyasha."

"He trusts you. He loves you."

"Do you know right after he thanked me, I got up and got my own brush and handed it to him? He dropped it like it burned when I turned so he could brush my hair. It felt like forever before he started, and he was clumsy. The longer he brushed, the more he would touch my hair that was done, or my shoulder, or my hand. He brushed my hair every day after that before he would let me brush his. He said that he had to provide for me before he dared think of getting for himself."

I had been speaking and had only brushed a fraction of Usagi's hair partly lost in thought and worried at Usagi's short, clipped answers and partly trying to give Sesshomaru as big a chance as possible. "Kagome," Usagi said, as I hit a knot. I hummed the yes in question as I worked at the knot. "Ouch! Kagome!" I tried to pull the brush out but realized it was stuck. She yelped as I tugged at the brush. "Stop!" I stopped, but the brush was stuck in her hair.

"Shit, I didn't realize it was that big." This was not part of my plan. Usagi tried to reach behind her for the brush and try to pick her hair out of the brush. She only was making it worse or ripping pieces out. I glanced at Sesshomaru, who had very lightly growled at her predicament. "Usagi, stop, you are making it worse."

"It hurts!" Usagi complained, still trying. I heard Sesshomaru's knuckles crack and saw he had a handful of grass from the corner of my eye. Maybe, just maybe, I had done a good thing in a way.

I moved to the brush and tried to untangle it. I realized it was good and stuck, and if I didn't get Usagi and Sesshomaru to take the bait, it was going to be a nightmare to get out. Usagi yelped as I tried to untangle it. "I have no idea how I did this," I said with a sigh. "Stupid Inuyasha, butting in even when he isn't born yet!"

"What is wrong with it?"

"I can't see it. It is too dark and too tangled for me to work it out. Even if I had light, I doubt I would figure it out anytime soon."

Usagi looked towards Anthony. "Anthony, could," she stopped as he shuddered violently.

"Not that dumb, Mama."

She huffed, and I gave an extra hard yank. Usagi squealed in pain, and I knew I was pushing it with how Sesshomaru had lightly snarled before, but this time, it was a lot louder. It drew Usagi's eyes towards him. "I know it is taboo, but can you just get it out, Sesshomaru? It hurts," Usagi asked him softly.

Sesshomaru slowly stood and walked over. He looked like he was afraid to scare her or get too close. I understood why. He slowly sat down behind Usagi and the stuck brush as I moved out of the way. He hesitated before his claws slowly started to move hair to get the brush free. They picked up speed as Usagi made no noise. I laid down and pretended to sleep.

After a few minutes, I started to doze off. I heard when the brush got free, and Usagi ask me to finish, but I was too tired to move or respond.

"She is mostly asleep," Sesshomaru told her.

I could practically hear the gears in Usagi's mind working. "Can you help finish it? I don't think I can if Kagome got the brush stuck."

There was a pregnant pause, then Sesshomaru's soft yes was the last I heard before I fell asleep.

* * *

Author's Note: Well, some of you who keep an eye on my profile might have noticed a new edit. What is it? The playlist! I've gotten ahead of myself on it a bit. Like, up to 15 chapters ahead of myself that you don't have. Hints till then I guess. But they are all there that Usagi has been singing. Even her riddle is a song! Go enjoy. A note about the lullaby, Inuyasha's lullaby is the first half of the Demon's Lullaby, but it is breathy. Usagi isn't breathy, as you'll learn. But yay, we have a playlist! It will open a new window when you click it.

Also, Wolfie and I currently working on 34 and almost done. What's that you ask? Will it be up shortly? Maybe~


	35. Chapter 34

Author's Note: What my sweetpeas? You didn't think I meant THAT fast? Heehee, here you are!

* * *

I don't know why their brushing styles were so different. It shouldn't have been. They did the same method to work the knots out, starting at the bottom and working up, but for some reason, it was completely different. After a few minutes, Sesshomaru made the growls and groans again. Maria answered, then brought some meat over. She handed it to me before moving back to her spot.

"Are you somehow communicating through grunts and groans?" I asked Sesshomaru.

"Yes. There is a universal demon tongue that lets us understand each other."

I pondered this a moment. "I guess it makes sense?" I let him continue to work the knot out. It must have been a nasty knot. "I'm sorry I'm making you do this. It must go against the fur." He didn't say anything but continued to brush. That made me uncomfortable. No response probably meant he didn't even want to touch my hair. "You can stop if you want. You don't have to. The brush is free now." He didn't stop. "Really Sesshomaru, it can keep the knots until the morning."

"No." It was fierce and determined and very firm. We stayed silent a few moments before he spoke again. "You asked for my help. I will always help if you ask. And it isn't as against the fur as you think."

I tried to digest that in my mind. I had no idea what it meant. I gave up and started eating the food I was handed. I recognized it as bear meat. "You actually got me a bear?"

"I got you three. Just in case." I could hear the smirk and pride in his voice as he answered.

"Three?" I didn't know if I wanted to be angry at what he was hinting at or laugh at it. "Do you honestly think I have a big enough stomach to eat three bears?"

"No, but I think the children were very hungry and ate most of one bear on their own." His brushing paused. "I didn't leave everyone with enough food while I was gone."

"I'm sure they forgave you. Kagome made sure to eat, right?"

"Yes." He had finished another small section and started at the bottom of the next section. I had no idea if it was that bad which was why I needed small sections or something else. "How did it get this tangled without it being noticeable?"

I gave a light laugh. "Days of no brush to care for it. More like over a week. I guess I didn't realize that there was a brush in all those supplies and just let it go."

A song tugged at my throat. It had been since Kagome had spoken about Inuyasha. I started to sing it. About halfway through the song, Anthony's hand went over mine and held it.

"Mama," he said softly, "that's too sad. What's wrong?"

I sighed. "A lot is on my mind, and I have a headache. I also feel very strange, and what Kagome said didn't help. All I can think about is where's mine? Even if I had been for your father in a past life, I don't think I was in this one." I picked at the bottom hem of my kimono sadly.

Anthony looked out towards the moon. "Mama? I wonder if you are really that oblivious, or it is a defense." He reached out towards the moon and held his hand out suspended. "That song sounded like trying to catch moonlight."

"Oh? How so?"

"It is impossible to do something without actually trying to do it or having the tools to do it. You can try and catch the moonlight, but there is no container I know for it."

"You can catch it all the same, Anthony. That is, if you were meant to have it, then you will have it. Someday. That is the song. That this love I hope for is out there, and I hope I find it soon. If it is out there I mean. I have an odd feeling it isn't out there."

Sesshomaru used the weird language to say something, and Anthony replied. After another moment, Sesshomaru said something else, then Anthony laughed and shook his head before walking back to talk to Victor.

"What did you two say?" I asked.

"Nothing of importance," Sesshomaru told me, still working the brush. "What were you singing? Can you translate it?" he asked after several moments.

I shook my head, no. "I don't want to."

"Why are you so sad, Usagi?"

I sighed at his question. "It isn't just sad. My head hurts. Sad is a big part of it, and so is the headache, but that's not all, and I don't want to talk about it."

A claw ran down the side of my face, but I hardly felt it. "You can talk to me, Usagi."

Standing quickly, I pulled the brush from his hand and handed it back to one of the girls, Anna. "Mommy, what's wrong? Your hair isn't done," she said, holding the brush back out.

"Can I have the guitar?" I asked instead of answering. Anthony held it out, and I took it and moved towards a tree. I put my back against it and strummed a few notes before starting to sing Blackbird by The Beatles. I played it several times before Anthony's hand stopped my hands.

"Maybe, you aren't broken. Fly with it, Mama."

I handed the guitar back to him, then sighed and laid down. Sleep did not come quickly with amber eyes staring at me the whole time.

* * *

Author's Note: Well, there you have it, 34! I've really gone and messed with Usagi now... Now that the playlist is mostly-caught-up, you only have one hint! Wolfie had to go for a while, so I'll be writing ahead and then we will be working on 35 tonight. Can we get it out today? Not sure. But I have some things to do tomorrow that will make it a little harder to go ahead and get it out tomorrow, so I'm all for making it nearly 48 hours awake to get you a chapter! Not that anyone else here will be happy with that idea I bet... But I'll do my best with Wolfie to get it out tonight.


	36. Chapters 35 & 36

Author's Note: Yes, that IS chapter 35 AND 36 in this. Spoiling you all with chapters because why would I not when I vanished? Enjoy my dears!

* * *

Chapter 35:

I woke to silence. I sat up and looked around. Sesshomaru had moved closer to me at some point and was all but on top of me. He looked asleep. The children looked asleep, and so did Kagome. I realized it was only just becoming morning and sat up with a yawn. I went to go to the bathroom and came back to everyone still asleep. I grabbed a stick and started writing in the dirt with it.

"So, you can write besides the answer to a code," Sesshomaru said, nearly making me jump out of my skin. "It is a little strange but understandable at the very least." I scowled at him for making me jump. "Why are you writing on the ground?"

"Can't a girl pour her thoughts to something without having it talk back to her or judge her for it?"

"Yes, but it isn't nearly as effective as telling someone else."

I sighed. "Sometimes, girls don't want to tell someone else if they are embarrassed. And sometimes, it is better to write it all out and think before you bother someone else with just the thinking part and boring them. It helps you sound smarter when you get around to talking to someone else."

"You wouldn't bore me with your thinking patterns. I might understand you better."

I tossed the stick at Sesshomaru, and he caught it. "Yes, but I still don't want to talk to you about it."

"Why?"

"You are being stupid." I stood and checked on Kagome. Anthony was getting up and looking at us funny.

"Mama, is he upsetting you again?"

"A bit, but I'm fine."

Anthony growled something out at Sesshomaru, and Sesshomaru all be snarled something back. Anthony winced. I took my shoe off and tossed it at Sesshomaru. "What was that for Usagi?"

"For being a jerk to a kid. He asked me if you were upsetting me, and I told him a bit. He probably just told you off for upsetting me, and you didn't like that and snapped at him for it. Go fill the water skins or something else." Sesshomaru glared at me but stood and grabbed an armload of skins and walked off.

"What did you say to him?"

"What did he say to you?"

Anthony toed the ground and came and sat in my lap. "He was kind of angry and cursed at me a bit."

"Then I'm glad I told him off and made him do a chore," I told the small boy with a tapped finger to his nose. He smiled at me then looked at the others. "Let them sleep. I'm not fully awake either yet."

Anthony leaned against me with a yawn. Sesshomaru came back with the waterskins, grabbed the pot and the rest of the waterskins, and left again. When he came back again, Maria was waking up. She thanked him, more than he would get for me, and started making a small stew with what we had left. I gave Anthony a peck on the cheek, then put him on the ground and stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"To get food. Don't worry; I won't go after big game. Just berries and whatever I can find close."

"We did that already."

"Then I guess I'm getting a boar!"

"Can you even catch one?"

"I guess we will find out?"

He sighed. "I'll come with you. We can't get into too much trouble getting one boar." I smiled with a nod, and we walked almost out of hearing distance when Sesshomaru grabbed my arm.

"Where are you going?"

"What do you care? I have Anthony with me."

"A child is not going to be able to protect you from a demon attack."

I took the sword from his belt. "You are a big scary demon and don't need a sword. We are fine now. Go back to the others."

"A sword which you have little skill wielding as a sword and more as a long knife is going to save you?"

"Kagome and the rest of the children have no protection without you. I have a chance. We get into trouble I'll scream very loudly. Either way, I'll be alone since Kagome has no bow to protect us with, and I have the best chance at keeping anyone alive. We can't all go."

"Hnn," he said, which was no answer at all.

I held my hand out for Anthony, and he took it, and we walked on. This time, Sesshomaru let us.

* * *

Chapter 36:

An hour and a half later, Anthony was hungry and had told me we failed about three dozen times. I told him to stay very quiet, but he gave a rather loud sigh. "Anthony, five more minutes, and I'll quit if I get nothing."

"What are you going to get in five minutes?"

"Have faith. And stay there."

He threw a why at me, but I crawled off. Not a great distance, but the food I had left seemed to have done the trick. I snapped the cord holding the vine, and not only one, but two deer were captured. I wasn't planning on that. I ran out and stabbed each through the heart, a large buck, and a smaller doe before I realized that now I had no way to carry two deer twice my weight each back.

"Anthony!" I called, not too loudly.

"How the heck did you manage that?"

"Skill and patience. Do you have any idea how to get them back?"

"You killed two giant deer without any thought how to get them back?"

"Not my brightest moment?" I paused. "Well, we are going to make him useful. He carried three bears back all at once; two deer should be no problem. Can you yell "Sesshomaru, help" as loud and panicked sounding you can at the same time as me?" He nodded, and we both took a deep breath and shouted. It took less than forty-five seconds for Sesshomaru to show up disheveled. "I can't carry or drag both back. Can you help? I don't want to leave Kagome alone too long, either."

He stared at me, then slowly looked over the deer, he knelt and picked up each one and threw them over his shoulders. "Both were clean kills. Impressive. And you caught two."

"Yes, well, get those to Maria, and we will be back as soon as we can. Smaller legs and all." He nodded and was gone. "How was that?" I asked Anthony.

"That was cool!" I wanted to chuckle that Anthony was picking up futuristic lingo.

"Yep, now let's get back. After making him do chores and scaring him like that, I'm ready to forgive him for what he said if you are." I held out my hand, and Anthony took it.

He swung my hand for several minutes before turning to look at me. "How can you hold a note so long?"

I guessed this would come up at some point. I doubted anyone heard of my trick, though. About now, it would only exist in Africa. "Well, it is going to sound silly, but I circle breathe."

"Circle breathe?"

"Yes, and it is a rather hard trick to learn. It makes it so I can't hold my breath very long underwater for some reason, not that I was ever very good at it to begin with. But what I do, is I can breathe in at the same time as breathing out. This means I never need to take a breath to sing a note, so I can hold it as long as I want."

"How do you even do it? Isn't that impossible?"

I shrugged. "I learned it and how to do it from a teacher. I never get winded that way. I can run until my legs hurt, but I won't be out of breath if I circle breathe. It is rather uncomfortable to do without singing, though."

"So, if you started a note now, you could hold it all the way back to camp?"

I opened my mouth and started a clear C note and held it swinging Anthony's hand as we walked back to camp. Sesshomaru had a raised eyebrow as we walked back into the clearing. Anthony was laughing. I kept it going, just to mess with Sesshomaru.

"Usagi, how long are you going to show off?" Kagome asked me. I shrugged in the way of answer.

"Isn't this cool? She's been doing it for over twenty minutes!" Anthony informed his brothers and sisters.

"Impossible. Not even a demon can hold a note that long!" Maria said with a laugh.

"You'll see Maria! Mama, can you keep holding it until Maria gets to eat her words?" I ruffled Anthony's hair and sat down and leaned back onto my palms and kept going.

After about five minutes, Sesshomaru winced. "What are you doing? How can you hold a note that long?" I kept going for another three minutes. "This is impossible." He stood and walked over to me and put his ear to my face. It was uncomfortable with how close he was, but I let him do it. "Explain."

I sighed but stopped singing. "What do you want to know?"

"Where in your bloodline is there demon? Are you quarter? Eighth? Less?"

I rubbed my temples. I was getting a major headache. "Are we doing this again?"

"Little one, does your head hurt still?" I reached out and flicked Kenji's forehead. "Alright, I get it. It shouldn't hurt though." He has said the last part only loud enough for me to assume that was what he said. I ignored it, guessing that it might have to do with having been dehydrated from not drinking for several hours.

"Good, because my head kills, and I don't think that I can run another round of "are you a demon?""

Kenji looked at me. "You don't know if you are a demon or not?"

I glared at Kenji. "I thought we established I'm not."

Kenji shrugged. Sesshomaru's nose was at my hair again. I was done. I shoved Sesshomaru off with a scream, one that probably hurt his ears by the way he winced. I stood up and stormed out of the clearing.

I was mad. I couldn't remember my parents, but I remember telling Sesshomaru a bit about them just days ago. I talked to Kenji about things I couldn't remember knowing. I couldn't remember anything from before a certain point. I don't remember Kagome brushing my hair as a kid, and that keyed me off that something happened to my head. The earliest memory I had was of sitting with Souta on a swing crying, but not why I was crying. But I was old, too old to not remember anything from before that. It just was gone. If I had been with Kagome since I was a kid, then why did Inuyasha not remember me when I was falling through the well this time with Kagome? He had asked what sister. Something had happened, and no one was saying anything. Any time I tried to think about it, my headache got worse. No, something had happened beyond dehydration. Everything felt off and wrong. I felt wrong. This was not a good thing in the least.

I was far away, but not too far I couldn't get help when I stopped. I sat hard on the ground. Nothing was making sense. Maybe my brain had shut down. Maybe I completely lost it with an adventure that wasn't fun anymore. It never was fun, not after those clawed fingers went into my body. I pulled my knees to my chest and dropped my forehead on my knees. How had Kagome not broken all those years ago? I felt like I was now missing a piece of me I couldn't get back and I was so hurt by everything. I wanted to go home so badly.

I felt Kagome's hand on my shoulder, and then she sat down and pressed her back against mine. She stayed like that for a long time. "Don't break," she whispered softly. "That's what I had to tell myself, all the time. I woke up, and it was my first thought for so long. Every brush with death, I felt myself crack. I still feel it here, but it is worse than it ever was then. I escaped home so many times over stupid things because everyone kept me together, and when we fought it felt like I was crumbling. But my friends would pull me back together. We had a duty. Duty sucks. But we all were a team. We all were what supported each other. I don't have that now, and I'm scared. I'm hardly holding it together. But I know more about this time, well, a bit more into the future, but I know more, and it isn't as bad for me as it must be for you."

"This is hell. I want to go home," I whispered. I felt Kagome sigh more than I heard it. "I know, Kenji says that I have to free the souls, but I thought I was going to die here. And I don't even remember how I got hurt in the first place. I remember how I hid it, but I don't remember how I got it or when. If I had been poisoned when around you, it never would have gotten that far. I know things are off. I'm not stupid, Kagome." I gripped a fistful of my hair at the roots and gave a light tug.

Kagome turned and hugged me. "You are fine. We'll get through this, find someone else to carry that thing, and go home. That stupid kami can't be that heartless. You aren't prepared for this. If he is insistent, we can go home and train you a bit before we come back. Get supplies like tampons and soaps and really yummy snacks for the road, and a few packs of crayons and coloring books for the kids."

I pulled away from Kagome and stood on shaking legs. "Kagome, you can't think I'll be able to go for more than a tiny bit of time, and everyone be fine with it. I have those kids who are attached to me, and I don't know the first thing about finding someone to take them in. I doubt Sesshomaru would be able to take them in, and even if he tried, no one mentions that Sesshomaru has adopted kids. He only will have Rin as far as we know, at least." I leaned against a tree and knocked my head into it once. "Can you temple-rub me? My head kills."

Kagome stood and put her forehead against mine and started to rub my temples. "Well, maybe it doesn't have to be long-term that we train you. Maybe we can convince Kenji that we have to go home from time to time to restock on supplies. We are going to need a ton with so many kids if we can't find a home for them. I don't think Sesshomaru has the money right now to support all of us very long, and we can't just live off of berries and meat from kills. We will need veggies and rice and all kinds of other things. Inus need us clean, so for that, we will need a ton of soap and hair products too. Kenji will let us. He has to, right?"

I nodded as she rubbed my temples. "Let's ask when he comes out of hiding again."

* * *

Author's Note: That's it for tonight. I have not really slept in almost 48 hours, so I need to sleep before I pass out. Thanks Wolfie for working so hard the last 24 hours to get all these out with me!


End file.
